All I Want
by Kurrent
Summary: Story 2 in my Liley series. This story takes Miley and Lilly into the holidays for the first time as a couple, where they get to know their families and themselves even better. Enjoy the Liley love!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Yay! Time for the next story in my Lileyverse. This one picks up about two months after my first story, "You and Me, Together," and will span from mid-November through New Year's Day. As for the girls' birthdays, as far as I know there hasn't been an official birthday declared for either character. If I'm wrong on that, please let me know so I can cry, because I like these birthdays in the story.

Here are my standard disclaimers: I make no claims on any of Disney's, Miley Cyrus' or Hannah Montana's trademarks or copyrights, and no infringement is intended. Be forewarned that this story most certainly will contain femslash. If love and affection between two consenting young adults of the same sex bothers you, I suggest you turn right around and find something else to read. Keep any flames to yourself and remember that what our world needs now is more love and acceptance, not more hate. Reviews are always welcomed and appreciated!

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 1: Hearts and Minds

_I see your face, I look in your eyes_

_What you feel is no surprise_

_Everyone needs something to believe in_

_Tell me your dreams and I'll tell you mine_

_In our hearts we'll look inside_

_And see all the colors of the rainbow_

_--_Hannah Montana"Bigger than Us"

It was six o'clock on a Friday night, and Lilly Truscott found herself growing nervous. She and Miley were going on a double date tonight with Jackson and his new girlfriend, Kaela Davis, a classmate of theirs. Jackson had been asking her out for two months now, and she had finally said yes. Even though Lilly had played on the soccer team with her for most of those two months, she really hadn't gotten to know Kaela at all. She kept to herself almost all the time, only really becoming friends with two other girls on the team.

Lilly was also torn between staying with the team or doing as she had said she would and leave the team once their three injured players had all returned. While Lilly didn't want to take playing time away from any player who had tried out and practiced for the team, she did enjoy playing, and not just for the competition. She got a thrill whenever she heard Miley cheering for her from the stands, and it had become her celebration to give Miley a kiss whenever she scored a goal, running to meet her at the sideline for an all-too-short kiss from her lover. The ritual had caused some controversy at a few of their games, but no one had brought the issue before the school board. At least, not yet.

The sound of the doorbell ringing shook Lilly out of her internal debate. She looked at the two shirts she was trying to choose between, and finally threw them on her bed, then turned out the light. She walked over to the bed, grabbed one and put it on. She then turned the light back on. She had picked out a very cute black long-sleeve shirt with pink hearts printed down the sleeves. She was already wearing a khaki miniskirt with her black tennis shoes, and the outfit looked good. _Admit it Truscott, you're wearing the skirt for Miley, in case she wants to fool around._ She smiled as the object of her desire walked into her bedroom.

"Hey Lilly," Miley said, crossing the room to kiss her girlfriend warmly. They wrapped each other into a close hug, closing their eyes and enjoying the feel and smell of each other. Miley loved the strawberry scent of Lilly's hair, and Lilly was similarly enchanted by the smell of Miley's orange-scented shampoo. As they pulled back, they stared into each other's eyes, each girl getting lost in the blue depths of her lover's gaze.

In the two months that they had been an official couple, they had grown even closer, something no one would have believed possible. The girls still could barely wait to get married, but they remained patient, as they knew that neither of them was going anywhere. Miley's initial concerns about losing Lilly in an accident like she had lost her mother had faded at this point. The eerie but prophetic dreams she had experienced two months ago had reassured her that she and Lilly were going to have a long, happy future together, so she had let her unfounded worry go.

As their sixteenth birthdays approached, the girls had decided to have their birthday parties together, since their birthdays were only a few days apart. Lilly's birthday was November 17th, and Miley's was November 19th, so they had elected to have their birthday party on the 16th, the Saturday before their birthdays. Miley had convinced Robbie Ray, her father, and Jackson, her older brother, to take a trip out of town that evening, so the two men had decided to go a basketball game out of town and spend the night, so the girls could have an evening by themselves. While their parents hadn't come right out and asked them if they were having sex (with the exception of Lilly's mother), Miley and Lilly were pretty sure they knew. Lilly's mom, naturally, had bluntly suggested they not be having sex while Miley's father was at home, causing some embarrassment for her daughter and future daughter-in-law. Robbie Ray and Lilly's father had never asked, but the girls had noticed that whenever they spent the night together, they were given their privacy. During the week, the girls usually stayed at their own houses, but almost every weekend they stayed together, alternating between Miley's house and Lilly's house. Wherever they were, they contributed to that house by doing chores and cleaning on the weekend.

As the girls stared longingly into each other's eyes, they both had matching smiles on their faces. "You ready?" Miley asked Lilly. "Oh, that's the shirt I got you!" she said, recognizing it and smiling. She had bought it for Lilly on a shopping trip last week, and she was thrilled that Lilly was wearing it tonight, as Miley thought it was adorable.

"Yeah, I think it's cute," Lilly said. She took a moment to assess what Miley was wearing, and she was quite pleased. Miley had on a nearly skin-tight yellow t-shirt with a light windbreaker, in case the rain that had forecast did indeed develop. For her pants, she was wearing a pair of vertically-striped capris, mainly brown but with several different colors of stripes, including yellow, pink, and light blue. The striped legs, which ended right below her knees, made Miley's gorgeous legs seem even longer than they were, and Lilly approved of how the outfit accentuated her lover's build and striking good looks. "You, on the other hand, look totally hot!" she said to Miley, getting a grin out of her.

Miley struck a modeling pose and said, "All this hotness is for you, girlfriend!"

Lilly nodded appreciatively and said, "Oh yeah, Lilly most definitely likey."

After turning once for Lilly, Miley said, "We need to get going, Jackson is waiting on us. We're going to pick up Kaela next. And I must say, you look mighty fine yourself." As Lilly crossed in front of her, Miley gave her butt a slight pinch, getting a small hop forward and a smile from over Lilly's shoulder.

Lilly grabbed her cell phone, her keys, and her wallet, dropping them in her small purse. She normally didn't carry a purse, instead preferring to keep her hands and arms free whenever possible. Also, those hands and arms were put to much better use holding Miley. Still, her miniskirt didn't leave much room for carrying things, so Lilly was making a compromise tonight. "Bye Mom!" Lilly yelled as they were leaving, while Miley added, "Bye Mrs. Truscott!"

The girls ran outside into the slightly cool Malibu air, the feel of impending rain mixing with the over-present smell of the ocean to create a heady mixture. Jackson was waiting for them in his car, a silver four-door Impala. It wasn't the newest model, but it was a recent one, and it ran quite smoothly. Robbie Ray had picked it out for him a few weeks ago to replace the aging vehicle Jackson had been driving. Lilly got to the car first, opening the left rear door for Miley to hop inside, then she followed her girlfriend inside. "So where are we going, Jackson?" Miley asked her brother as they pulled out of the Truscotts' driveway. She was leaning forward between the two front seats, until Lilly smacked her left thigh. "What?" Miley said, turning to look at Lilly. Lilly's response was to tug on her seat belt and give Miley a Look. Recognizing the Look, Miley acquiesced and sat back, buckling her seat belt. When Miley's belt was fastened, Lilly put the Look away and smiled as she took Miley's hand in hers.

"Well, in no particular order, dinner, something fun, and something romantic," Jackson said.

"Good plan," said Lilly, as Miley nodded her agreement. "Movies are always romantic," Lilly suggested.

Miley said, "So are walks on the beach at night."

"Oh, that sounds really nice, Miles," Lilly said excitedly. "But it might rain later tonight," she added, her smile fading.

"True," Miley said. "Well, we could always ask her!"

Jackson said, "Okay, we can do that. For dinner, I was thinking the Italian restaurant Allegria."

Lilly said, "Ooooh, that's supposed to be really nice. That sounds great to me, how about you, sweetheart?"

Miley said, "That's fine with me. I know you'll love it, Lilly," Miley said, grinning at Lilly's healthy appetite.

Lilly laughed, then said, "I have such a healthy appetite because you keep me worn out, Ms. Stewart!" Lilly leaned over and kissed Miley on her now-blushing cheek. "But I love it, and I love you for it." Miley didn't try to dispute Lilly's statement, instead just treating Lilly to a kiss that started softly but grew in intensity quickly. After a few seconds, the girls parted lips. Lilly unconsciously licked her lips as Miley pulled back just slightly, smiling at the effect she had on her lover.

Jackson interrupted the tender moment by loudly saying, "Are you two gonna keep making out, or are you gonna help me find this house?"

Her eyes still closed, Lilly said, "Who says we can't do both," getting a giggle from Miley. That finally got her to open her eyes, and Miley could see sparkles in their aqua depths. Turning to face forward again, Lilly said in a louder voice, "Seriously Jackson, it's freakin' Malibu! It's not that hard a city to drive in."

Miley said, "He's just giving us a hard time, Lilly. I bet he's already driven out here at least twice to make sure he knew the way." She looked at Jackson. "Am I right, big boy?" she asked with a saucy tone.

Jackson didn't reply for a minute, then he sheepishly said, "Well, I had to make sure I could find it both in sunlight and at night!"

Lilly's mouth dropped open. "You mean, you just said that to get us to stop kissing? You are _mean_, Jackson Stewart!" She held her angry face for a few seconds before Miley's sputtering laugh triggered her own laughing meltdown.

Jackson glanced up in the rear view mirror briefly, quickly returning his view to the road as he said, "I know you two are in love, but you might want to cool it a bit tonight. I mean, I don't know how Kaela might feel about you two practicing mouth-to-mouth all night." He grimaced, bracing himself for the scolding he was about to receive.

"You know, Jackson, that was uncalled for, even from you," Miley said, anger evident in her words. "Kaela knows that Lilly and I are engaged and in love, you know. I mean, she's watched us kiss at how many soccer games now, Lilly?"

"Gosh, at least twelve, I guess," Lilly replied. "Plus, she knows it's a double date with us, Jackson. It's not like this is going to blindside her or anything," Lilly said, her tone of voice cool. "And if we get the first sign that she's uncomfortable, then we'll stop and talk to her about it. We _are_ sensitive, you know."

Miley turned to Lilly and said, "Hey Lilly, remember that story I was telling you about putting the snake in Jackson's sleeping bag when I was ten?"

Lilly's face drew into a frighteningly grim smile as she replied, "Oh yeah, that was the time when he passed out, right?"

Jackson said, "Oh no. You better not.."

Miley interrupted him. "Yes, that was it! I also remember the time when he was eight, and he decided he liked coffee. He drank four cups of it, and by the time Mommy and Daddy figured out why he was so hyper and caught him, he had peed all over himself and all over the living room floor!"

Lilly laughed. "No! Did he really?" she said.

Miley said, "Yup. They never could get the stain completely out of the carpet. We started calling it Jackson's--"

"OKAY!" Jackson yelled. "Okay! I get the point. I apologize, okay? Just don't drag out any more of those stories, please!"

"Apology accepted," Miley and Lilly said at the same time, giggling when they realized what they had done. "You know, we seem to do that a lot," Miley said. "I hope Amber and Ashley aren't rubbing off on us."

"Eeeeeeew!" Lilly grimaced. "You mean, rub off like a fungus?"

"Ha! Nice one, Lil," Miley said as she cackled. "I'll have to remember that one."

Jackson said, "Hate to interrupt the insults on those two, but we're here." They pulled up to a modest but nice duplex, parking just inside the driveway. Jackson got out of the car, leaving the engine running as he walked to the door.

"Would you really have told Kaela those stories?" Lilly asked Miley.

"No," Miley said, sighing. "At least, not on the first date." Lilly smiled, then they turned to watch Jackson ring the doorbell.

"Why is this kind of fun watching him get so nervous?" she asked Miley.

"I dunno, but it is entertaining," Miley said, unbuckling her seat belt and leaning for a better angle to watch her brother fidget. Fortunately for Lilly, the leaning brought Miley close enough to Lilly for her to grab her girlfriend, pulling Miley into her lap with a muffled squeal. Once her quarry was in her grasp, Lilly smiled down at her girlfriend, enjoying the sight of Miley's dark brown hair spilling across her lap, a smile firmly fixed on Miley's lips. "You are so gorgeous," Lilly said.

"So are you, Lil," Miley replied. "Not that I don't like being in your lap, but can I get up and watch Jackson sweat?" she asked politely.

Lilly helped her up, just in time to see Jackson talking to someone just inside the door. He turned and started walking back to the car, a grim look on his face. "What's wrong?" Lilly asked Miley. "Did they run him off?"

Miley was just as perplexed. "I don't know, but he doesn't look mad or heartbroken, just ... annoyed, maybe?"

Jackson reached the car, opening Lilly's door. "Her mom wants to meet the couple that Kaela and I are going on the date with," he said. By the tone in his voice, it was obvious he didn't think this would have a good outcome.

Lilly hopped out of the car, extending her hand to help Miley out. "Let's go, hon, we have to be put on parade again," Lilly said, sounding exasperated. She and Miley had pretty much gotten used to the novelty of being a teenage lesbian couple, and they accepted that it was something unseen by many people they met. They also had found that most of the time, once they got the points across that, yes, they really were in love, and no, their parents and families didn't have a problem with their romance, people usually didn't have much of a problem with them being a couple. There was always the chance of a bad reaction, though, and neither Miley nor Lilly wanted Jackson's first date with Kaela to end before it ever started.

Miley brushed Lilly's shirt, smoothing it down, while Lilly fixed Miley's hair, making sure it looked just right. "Beautiful," Lilly said. Miley said, "You look great too, hon. Let's go." They held hands and started walking to the door. As they reached the door, Miley said, "Jackson, you want to do the honors?"

Jackson said, "Um, yeah, sure. They said for me to just bring you two in, while Kaela finishes getting ready." He knocked then opened the door, stepping inside and holding the door open for Miley and Lilly to enter. As the girls stepped inside, they saw that no one was in the foyer, but as they looked around, a tall auburn-haired woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties rounded the corner, stepping into the foyer. "Oh! Excuse me," she said, then her voice trailed off as she saw Jackson, Lilly and Miley. "Are there two other couples with you and Kaela tonight, Jackson? I thought there was just one other," she asked, looking a bit puzzled.

"No ma'am," Miley said, holding out her right hand. "I'm Jackson's sister, Miley, and this is my fiancée, Lilly Truscott," she said as she shook the woman's hand.

Lilly helpfully added, "We're the other couple on the date tonight, Ms. Davis."

"Oh," Kaela's mother said, somewhat surprised. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that," she said, laughing softly.

Lilly said, "It's okay, we get that reaction a lot the first time people meet us." Miley nodded in agreement.

Kaela's mother said, "And you said Lilly was your fiancée, Miley?" with a look of wonder on her face.

Miley said, "Yes, ma'am," and the girls dutifully extended their left arms in unison, to show her their engagement rings. Both rings were gold bands with a diamond solitaire, but slightly different cuts and sizes. The ring Miley was wearing had been an heirloom in Lilly's family since the time of the Civil War, but it had been well taken care of. Recently polished and cleaned, it gleamed as if it was only a few years old. Lilly's ring had a slightly larger and equally sparkling diamond, but it had the same simple, delicate look as Miley's ring. The resemblance between the two rings was rather peculiar, and the girls had discussed that fact several times already.

"So both of you got an engagement ring?" Ms. Davis asked, obviously intrigued by how the girls had done that.

Miley and Lilly nodded in unison, as Miley said, "It only seemed fair. I mean, what girl _doesn't_ want an engagement ring?" she said, grinning as Lilly laughed.

"I know I certainly did," Lilly added. "Especially from such an amazing woman as Miley." The look of affection on her face for Miley was plainly evident, as Lilly smiled a warm smile at her lover.

Miley returned the warm smile, her lips parting to let her teeth flash through in her grin for just a moment before she said, "Plus, this way neither of us gets hit on. We don't do the whole flirting/jealousy thing. We know who we want, and we're not interested in anyone else."

Lilly added, "Exactly. We're planning on getting married before we go to college, probably after graduation but maybe sometime during our senior year. We just haven't decided yet."

"How old are you girls?" Kaela's mother asked, a slight smile on her face.

"We turn sixteen later this month," Lilly answered.

At that point Kaela came into the foyer. She was taller than everyone present, including her mother. Without shoes, Kaela stood right at six feet tall; with her pumps, she was close to six foot two. Her red hair was straight and hung down halfway her back, curls at the end. She was wearing a pastel pink blouse with a knee-length khaki skirt, brown pumps finishing the outfit. "Hi Jackson," Kaela said first, smiling at him as she spoke, then she said, "Hey Lilly! And Miley, it's nice to finally get to meet you," Kaela said, holding out her hand to Miley.

"Wow, you're ... tall!" Miley said, looking up to Kaela and shaking her hand. "I've never really gotten to stand next to you, so I never noticed how tall you were."

"Well, I love my legs, but shopping for clothes is a huge pain in the ass," she said, getting a light smack on her right arm from her mother.

"Language, Kae," Ms. Davis said, getting a grin from both Miley and Lilly.

Kaela gave her mother a reproachful look, but she didn't say anything to her. "Anyway Miley, I've heard so much about you from Lilly, but I've just never had the chance to get to meet you. Every time I see you at the soccer games, you tend to be, um, occupied." Kaela had her own sly grin as she finished her last sentence.

Lilly laughed, saying, "Oh, you are busted, Stewart!" to Miley, getting her own smack on the arm from her girlfriend.

"I don't hear you complaining!" said Miley.

"And you never will," said Lilly softly, her laughter fading into a gentle smile. "I love you kissing me when I score a goal."

Kaela smiled as she said, "It's really cute, Mom. Lilly runs over to the sideline and Miley meets her there for a kiss whenever Lilly scores a goal."

"How sweet!" Kaela's mother said. "Well, with my work schedule it's very difficult for me to make it to Kaela's games, but I'll look for you two when I can get to one."

Lilly and Miley both smiled, then Miley said, "Well, nice to met you Ms. Davis, but we need to get going, because our dinner reservations are in ten minutes."

"Nice to meet you," Lilly said, waving as they stepped outside.

Jackson held the door open for Kaela, then said, "We'll be back by eleven; Kaela said that was her curfew."

Her mother nodded and said, "Eleven would be good. And Kaela has her cell phone, in case we need to get in touch with her."

Showing a moment of foresight, Jackson said, "Let me give you my cell phone number too, Ms. Davis, just in case something happens to hers." He gave her the number, which she immediately programmed into her phone.

"Thank you, Jackson, that's very thoughtful,' she said, smiling at him. "You four have a wonderful evening!" she called out, waving as she closed the door.

As they reached the car, Miley opened the left rear door for Lilly, while Jackson walked over and opened Kaela's door for her. As Lilly and Kaela slid into the car, they glanced at each other. Lilly always seemed to be smiling anyway, but she noticed that a grin spread across Kaela's face as well.

Kaela turned around and asked Lilly, "So do you and Miley trade off things like opening doors for each other?"

Lilly said, "Yeah, usually." Miley sat down beside Lilly, scooting right against her and buckling the middle lap belt rather than the shoulder belt on her side of the back seat. As Lilly opened her mouth to say something, Miley quickly said, "I am IN a seat belt, Truscott, so you can't say anything."

Lilly paused for a minute, then said, "Well, lap belts aren't as safe as shoulder belts."

Miley raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend. Then she said, "They also make it much harder for wandering hands to, you know, ... wander!"

This seemed to strike a chord in Lilly, who raised her own eyebrow in response and said, "Carry on." She turned back to Kaela as Miley snuggled against her. "Kaela was just asking if we took turns opening doors for each other and things like that," she said to Miley, giving a Kaela a soft smile.

Miley took Lilly's left hand in her right hand, then she smiled at Kaela and said, "Pretty much. We both try to be really thoughtful with things like that. I mean, it's not like one of us has the 'boy' role and the other has the 'girl' role. We're both definitely girls," she said, giggling as Lilly did the same.

"Yeeeah, that they are," Jackson said as he started the car and began backing out of the driveway. As he was turned around, he saw Miley giving him a look. _What?_ he mouthed to her, getting an intense glare from his sister. Miley then cut her eyes toward Kaela, then gave another stern look. Finally, she reached down and tugged on her dress. Jackson got the hint that time, and he just barely tipped his head to Miley. As he started the car down the road, he turned to Kaela and said, "You look beautiful tonight, Kaela. That outfit is really ... great." Miley rolled her eyes at her brother's choice of compliments, but she was pleased he tried.

Just a few minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant Allegria. One of Malibu's best Italian restaurants, it was well-known for its romantic atmosphere. Jackson pulled up to the door, letting the girls climb out of the car. Before she got out of the car, Lilly turned to Miley and said, "Okay Miles, now you behave while I get out of this car. Remember, Kaela is right here, and we don't want to scandalize her."

Miley grinned, knowing that Lilly's miniskirt would give her a very tempting view as Lilly climbed out of the car. She said, "I promise not to do anything too scandalous," trying her best to keep an innocent look on her face. Lilly's look of disbelief told her that her effort fell short of the mark.

Lilly looked over Miley's shoulder and said, "Oh no! Is that Amber and Ashley?" As Miley turned to look, Lilly shot out of the car, nearly falling in her haste. Catching herself, she stood and smoothed out her miniskirt.

Miley gave her lover a glare at being tricked, getting laughter in return from both Kaela and Lilly. "Nice trick, Truscott," she grumbled as she got out herself. Lilly stepped over and extended her right hand; when Miley took it, Lilly helped her get out of the car. "Thank you, sweetie," Miley said, not releasing Lilly's hand. Miley turned to Kaela and said, "Kaela, if we ever make you uncomfortable, please say something, 'kay?"

Lilly added, "Yeah, please. We're just so used to being around each other that it's second nature to be touching and holding each other, but we realize that it's probably different that what you're used to seeing."

Kaela's face was neutral as she said, "No, it's cool. It is a bit different, but the whole school knows you two are nuts for each other, and it really doesn't bother me." She turned to look at Jackson, who was walking over to them. "Hopefully your brother will keep my eyes occupied," she said, with a sly grin on her face. That comment got a brief double-take from Miley and prompted Lilly to say quietly, "You work it, Kaela! The way you look tonight, Jackson's eyes are going to be all over you, that's for sure."

As Jackson the others, he opened the door, letting Kaela enter first with Lilly and Miley entering together. As Miley walked by Jackson, she surreptitiously gave him an A-OK sign, getting a grin from him in return. Kaela waited inside the lobby for Jackson, so Lilly and Miley walked up to the seating stand. "Stewart, party of four, reservations for ... now, I guess," Miley said, looking at her watch. The hostess checked her board, then she smiled and said, "Yes, right here. One of our most romantic tables. Follow me please." She took four menus, then she led them between the tables of the softly lit restaurant, the aroma of Italian food, bringing smiles to the faces of both Lilly and Jackson.

"That smells great, Miley," Lilly said as they led the way, holding hands as they walked between the tables, Lilly leading the way and Miley right behind her. As they reached the table, Lilly pulled out a chair then moved to the side. Miley said, "Thank you, sweetie," giving Lilly a smile as she sat. Jackson did the same for Kaela, getting a "Thank you" and a smile for his efforts. Lilly went ahead and took her seat on Miley's right, with Kaela on her right and Jackson directly across the table from her. The hostess gave everyone a menu, then she disappeared. After a minute, a waitress arrived at their table. "Hi, my name's Allison, and I'll be your server tonight." She placed a glass of water in front of everyone, then she took their drink orders. When she left, they went to work deciding what everyone was getting to eat.

Miley said, "I think I'll get the chicken marsala. How about you, Lil?"

Lilly said, "Your old standby, huh?" Miley grinned sheepishly, and Lilly said, "I know how much you love that, hon. I think I'll try this Tuscan mixed grill. It sounds really good." She folded her menu, placing it under Miley's on the table.

Jackson opted for lasagna, while Kaela went with the chicken and grilled vegetables. Miley and Lilly made eye contact at Kaela's order, recognizing it as a "safe" first choice on a date: not too messy, not giving the impression of eating too much, and implying that eating healthy was a prime consideration. Jackson's selection of lasagna met none of those three criteria, but then he was a boy, blissfully unaware of such concerns.

While the two couples waited on their food, they found out a bit more about each other. Kaela and her mother had moved from Washington state for her mom's work as a fiber optic network specialist. The move to California gave her mother better pay, more time with Kaela, and much fewer emergency calls. Kaela missed her friends, whom she had grown up with, but she was slowly trying to make a few new friends at Seaview High.

When the meals arrived, Kaela indulged and allowed herself to ask the question she had been wanting to ask for the entire evening. "So, Miley, Lilly, how did you two start, you know, seeing each other?"

The two girls looked at each other, then Lilly started. "Well, we had been best friends for several years beforehand. We both had just kind of fallen in love with each other, but we were both scared to tell each other."

Miley said, "We both went on dates and had a few boyfriends, but none of them really felt right. We felt better and had more fun with each other than we did with any of them." She looked at Lilly, then took her hand as it rested on top of the table. "Then one night, we went to a party together, and it was like we had this connection, deeper than what we already had, and we were just starting to realize it."

Lilly looked lovingly at Miley as she said, "Miley sang a song at the party, and while she was singing it, she kept looking at me with this look that just heated me up inside. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that she had feelings for me like I had for her, and I knew I had to tell her how I felt."

Miley then took over again, adding, "When we got to my house that night, because Lilly was spending the night with me, she just passed out on my bed. I went to move her over, and she started flirting with me."

Lilly said, "I believe my words were, 'Come get me warm, Miles.' And you hopped right in when I said it."

Miley nodded, grinning. "Oh yeah! I couldn't let that pass, not when I had been having nightmares about..." Miley paused, a flash of fear crossing her face so fast that Lilly was the only one who really noticed it. "About you being gone. So when we snuggled up, Lilly looked at me with this look that was just unreadable, then she leaned forward and kissed me."

"And then we told each other how we felt," Lilly finished, kissing Miley's right hand as she finished. By previous agreement, the girls made no mention of the dream about Miley's mother that had followed their first night together as a couple in love. Those dreams remained secrets, known only to the two girls.

Miley turned to Kaela and asked, "So, Kaela, what in the world possessed you to go out with my brother?" Jackson said, "Hey!" but talking around a mouth stuffed full of lasagna failed to get much attention.

Kaela said, "Well, it was my second day at Seaview, and I got totally lost. Jackson happened by and helped my find my class. He introduced himself, then in the next class we realized we had it together. We sat beside each other and things just sort of grew from there."

Jackson finally swallowed his mouthful of food, saying, "I thought Kaela was gorgeous to begin with, but I got to see she was really funny and pretty smart, too. The more I talked to her, the more I wanted to do stuff with her and spend time around her."

Miley smiled at her brother, pleased with his words. _He really does like her_, she thought. _Good._ Miley glanced at Lilly, smiling to communicate that she had a positive feeling about Kaela. Lilly smiled back, understanding Miley's intention and silently agreeing with her. "So, Kaela, what are you up for tonight?" Miley asked. "We were trying to think of something fun to do, but we're having trouble deciding. Got any suggestions?"

**Author's Afterword:** This is shaping up to be a loooong story. Consider yourself warned. But I'm looking forward to writing it. Expect lots of holiday fun and heaping helpings of Liley love, as well as a trip to Tennessee. As always, give me three or four days between updates; that usually gives me enough time to write the story, proofread it twice, and post it. Feel free to share your reviews, comments, and any mistakes I make so I can correct them.

-- Jo --


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Yay! Chapter two is here! Enjoy more of the goodness; even Jackson is having a good time in this story. And we're still in early November, with the holidays yet to come. This is going to be a fun story! Please see Chapter 1 for my standard disclaimers!

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 2: Timing

_The music's gonna start a revolution_

_Too late to play it safe_

_--_Hannah Montana"Pumpin' Up the Party"

Dinner was winding down, and Miley, Lilly, Jackson and Kaela were trying to decide what to do next. "Something fun?" Kaela asked.

"Yeah," said Lilly, finishing the last of her Tuscan mixed grill. "Wow, that was awesome! Did you like it, Miles?"

Miley nodded, her mouth currently full of chicken marsala. Swallowing the bite, she said, "It was really good, Lilly. Yours looked yummy, too."

Sounding a bit dejected, Lilly said, "I'd have let you have some of mine if you'd asked," a slight pout on her face.

Miley froze, her fork halfway to her mouth. She inclined her head to look at Lilly. "Do ya really think I'd come between you and food, Lil?"

Lilly smiled and said, "You're the only thing that can, sweetheart," patting Miley's cheek softly. "And I know you'd have asked if you really wanted it."

Miley said, "Yeah, I have no problem with that," before she realized the double meaning of Lilly's words. "Um, I meant that in a non-sexual way," she said, blushing slightly. Lilly laughed at that point, causing Miley to turn thoroughly red. "Okay, I'm going to shut up now," she said, covering her face with her napkin. At that point Kaela and Jackson started laughing, unable to hold it in any longer.

Lilly leaned over and gave Miley a kiss on the forehead through the napkin. "It's okay sweetheart, like the song says, 'Everybody makes mistakes...'," she said, doing little dance moves with her upper body.

From underneath the napkin, Miley's voice said, "Can I crawl under the table now?"

Lilly scooted her chair over next to Miley and said, "Miley, come out now, please." She gently lifted the napkin, revealing Miley's blushing face. "Here sweetie, drink some water," Lilly said, handing Miley her glass of ice water.

"Thanks, Lil," Miley said, taking a long drink of the cool water and feeling her flushing slowly subside.

Kaela said, "I'm surprised you let that 'crawl under the table' comment pass, Lilly, with you wearing that miniskirt and all." Jackson laughed again at that comment, as Miley's blush started to creep back up.

Lilly put her arm around Miley and said, "Ah, I let it pass because my sweetie is embarrassed enough right now. Plus, it was _my_ idea to wear the miniskirt in case we got the chance to fool around." Her confession got a gasp out of Miley, then a laugh from everyone at the table, Lilly included. "It's the truth!" Lilly said vehemently as Jackson turned red himself from laughing so hard.

Kaela's fair complexion was also quite rosy from all the laughing. "Okay, you two are hilarious!" she said, finally getting herself back under control. "Oh my gosh, I almost peed on myself, I was laughing so hard!"

With everyone else red from laughing at something other than her, Miley kissed Lilly on the cheek and whispered, "Thank you." In return she got a look of pure devotion that wordlessly said, _You're welcome, but no thanks are necessary._ Miley slid her chair back and stood as she said, "I need to go to the bathroom after all that." Before her sentence was completed, Lilly had stood as well, walking with Miley back to the bathroom, a smile still on her face.

"Oh, you don't think..." Kaela said, giving Jackson a look of disbelief. "Would they ... in the bathroom?" she said.

With an uneasy look on his face, Jackson said, "Uh uh, I am _not_ going there. That's my sister and future sister-in-law; I don't think about them doing that kind of stuff. Plus, Lilly is spending the night with us tonight, so she and Miley will be together tonight. Anyway, you saw how embarrassed Miley got just from saying what she did! No way would they try anything in a public bathroom."

"Point taken," Kaela said. "They're really sweet, Jackson. I'm glad they came with us tonight." She leaned over and gave Jackson a hug, stopping his breathing momentarily.

At this distance, Jackson could smell her perfume, a spicy odor that made his nose tingle, in a good way. He hugged Kaela back, enjoying the contact. After a few seconds, they pulled back, their eyes making tentative contact as they smiled at each other.

In the bathroom, Miley and Lilly were washing their hands after doing their business. "I like her, Lilly," Miley said.

"Kaela?" Lilly asked, intently focusing on getting enough soap out of the little dispenser to actually wash her hands.

"Who else would I be taking about?" Miley said with a half-exasperated voice. "Naomi Watts?"

Lilly looked over at Miley, her face serious, then she flicked water at her girlfriend, getting a squeal. Miley then shoved her hands under the running water and returned fire, getting Lilly directly in the face. "Ha ha!" Miley said, until she saw Lilly turn the water on full force. _Oop, I've done it now_, she thought. Right about then Kaela walked into the bathroom, giving Miley potential cover. As Lilly put her hands under the water, Miley ran and hid behind Kaela. Lilly ran over, her hands dripping and poised to flick as she said, "Miley, stop hiding behind a hostage! Take your faceful of water like a woman."

"Save me, Kaela," Miley said, afraid to show her head. "She's gone mad! Mad, I tell you!"

Lilly grinned, then motioned for Kaela to move right. Kaela nodded, then instantly scooted to the side, leaving Miley exposed. "Eeep," Miley whimpered as Lilly delivered a double flick of water, getting Miley's face and hair with a direct hit.

Seeing her girlfriend huddling there with water dripping from her hair and face, Lilly realized she might have gone a wee bit too far. She grabbed a handful of paper towels and starting gently drying Miley off. "Sorry Miley, that was more than I had planned on." As she dried Miley's hair, she saw Miley looking up at her, a pitiful look on her face. "Awww, don't look sad, Miles. I'm sorry."

That got a smile on Miley's face. "You promise to make it up to me tonight?" Miley said.

"Miley, your dad and Jackson are going to be home tonight," Lilly said, a bit hesitant. When she saw Miley mouth the word _shower_, she grinned and said, "Okay, I promise."

Kaela stood there taking in the exchange, covering her mouth to keep from laughing any more. "Oh my gosh, I haven't laughed this hard since we moved down here," she said, tears running down her face from the laughter. "We need to hang out much more often!"

"Deal," said Miley. Lilly nodded, still working on fixing her girlfriend's hair. "Now we need to go back out, or Jackson might come in here looking for us," Miley said with a smile.

As the trio of girls got back to the table, they saw Jackson, relief visible on his face as he saw them approach. "Miley, did you fix your hair differently while you were in there?" he said with some confusion.

"Lilly did it for me, Jackson. Just leave it there," Miley replied, her voice telling him not to ask further questions. Getting the point, Jackson didn't ask any further questions.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Lilly. "For something fun, I mean?"

"I bet my mom would let us watch a movie over my house," Kaela said brightly. "Want me to ask?"

Miley quickly said, "Sure!" She looked at Lilly and grinned. "A scary movie?"

Lilly nodded her head. "Is there any other kind of date movie?" she said, a smile on her face. She knew all too well how Miley liked to cuddle when watching a movie, especially scary ones.

Miley smiled back and added, "Not for Ms. Grabby Hands, there isn't," making little wiggling motions with her fingers as she held her hands out toward Lilly.

Lilly said, "My hands just can't help themselves when you're next to me, Miles," a look of pure innocence evident on her face.

A look of amusement wavered on Miley's face for a few seconds before it dissolved into loud laughter. "THAT is the truth, Truscott!" Still giggling, she leaned forward and said, "And that's how it better stay, lover."

Lilly was just slightly surprised at Miley's choice of words; that was the first time she had confirmed that she and Lilly were lovers in front of Jackson. Lilly tried to stealthily check his face for any sign of surprise, but she saw none. _Oh well, it's not like he didn't suspect it, if not outright know it._ She looked at Miley's bright face. "It will, Miley, I swear it."

Miley smiled in return, then she turned to Kaela. "Want to call your mom and ask her if we can watch a movie?"

Kaela said, "Sure," taking her phone out of her purse. She dialed the number, then spoke when her mother answered the phone. "Mom? Yes, the date's going really well. We're all having fun, and dinner has been great. I was wanting to ask you if we could watch a movie at the house. That way I'll be back in plenty of time, and I think it'd be fun to get to know everyone a bit better." She paused, then smiled. "Okay, thanks Mom! We'll get a movie and be there shortly." She shut the phone, closing the connection. "She said yes!"

Jackson said, "Well, they brought the checks while you were in the bathroom, so let's pay and head out of here." He handed Miley the check for her and Lilly's meals. She opened the leather folder, glanced at the total, then slipped a hundred out of her purse and placed it inside, making sure that Kaela didn't see it. She and Lilly tried to share responsibilities in their relationship, but they were both practical young women. Thanks to Hannah, Miley had quite a bit more money than Lilly did, so for big purchases, Miley picked up the check. Neither girl had a problem with this, because they knew that in the long run Hannah's money belonged to both of them. Miley had likewise previously armed Jackson with some money earlier in the day. While Jackson preferred to spend his own money, Miley had insisted on treating him on the special occasion of his and Kaela's first date.

The waitress took the checks, returning in just a minute with change. Jackson took his change, while Miley quietly motioned for the waitress to keep the change from her check. The young woman looked surprised, then she smiled and said, "Thank you. Have a good night." Lilly stood, helping Miley scoot her chair back, as Jackson did the same for Kaela. The two couples then walked to the door, where they saw it had started to rain lightly.

"Jackson..." said Miley sweetly, "would you be really sweet and pull the car up here for us, so us girls don't get our hair wet?"

"Um, Miley, your hair already looks kinda--"

"Jackson!!" Miley interrupted, then her smile reappeared. "Pleeeeease?"

Jackson started to say something back to Miley, then he remembered it wouldn't only be Miley getting wet, it would be Lilly and Kaela. He sighed. Sometimes being the man just meant you got rained on. Taking his keys out, he took off for the car.

As he ran across the parking lot, Kaela said, "Wow, I figured he'd have put up more of an argument."

Lilly quickly said, "Oh, if you hadn't have been here, Miley and I would be running right behind him."

Miley nodded, looking at Kaela and saying, "So thanks!" She then gave Kaela a quick hug, taking Lilly's hand when she released Kaela. Right then Jackson pulled the car underneath the restaurant's overhang, allowing the girls to get in without getting soaked. They climbed inside, and this time Miley got in first. As Lilly sat down beside her, Miley pointedly used the middle lap belt, practically sitting in Lilly's lap.

Jackson pulled the car back onto the road. "There's a movie store down the road. Anything you girls want to see? Other than something scary, of course?"

Since it was now dark, Miley and Lilly were feeling a bit more free to touch. Miley barely heard Jackson's question, as she was quite preoccupied with working her left hand up Lilly's left thigh. The positioning of Lilly's left hand down the front of her pants also was a significant distraction. Still, she managed to weakly say, "Get whatever ... whatever movie you want," keeping her gasp to a minimum as Lilly hit where she was aiming for. Miley couldn't resist Lilly's lips being so close with the two of them touching so intimately, and she leaned forward, hungrily kissing Lilly.

"Uh, Kaela and I are still up here, you two. Can you hold it in for a bit longer?" Miley and Lilly responded by unbuckling their seat belts and lying down across the back seat. "Miles! Lilly! Come on, I'm trying to drive here!" he pleaded. For an answer, he saw two hands appear over the seat, both with identical gestures telling him to mind his own business.

Kaela giggled at the girls' response. "Jackson, let them be with each other. The movie store is right here, so we're getting out in just a few seconds."

Jackson said, "Alright," grumbling under his breath slightly. He pulled in and dropped Kaela off at the door, then he parked further away from the store. "Okay Miley, I parked where you two can have some privacy." A single hand rose into view, flashing him a thumbs up. Jackson couldn't help but grin as he got out, locking the doors and going inside.

After twenty minutes, Miley and Lilly walked into the movie store, their hair wet and their clothes slightly askew but with very large smiles on their faces. They spotted Jackson and Kaela and made a beeline to them, still holding hands as they hurried through the store. As they reached the two, Lilly said, "So what movie did you get?"

Miley caught Jackson's eye and mouthed, _Thank you._ He tipped his head to her and smiled. Miley then took her place beside Lilly, her right hand drifting lightly down Lilly's back until it rested at the waistband of her skirt.

Kaela said, "Any of you seen 'Ghost Rider' yet?"

Miley and Lilly both shook their heads. Jackson had seen it, but he didn't mind watching it again, so he said, "That's good. Not too scary for Miley and not too gory for Lilly."

Kaela looked at Lilly and said, "You not like the gruesome stuff, Lilly? I thought you liked scary movies."

Lilly said, "Oh, I do, but I have a limit as to how much gross stuff I can handle. That stuff like 'Hostel' is just way too much for me. I like being scared, not being grossed out." Miley looked over at her girlfriend, smiling. Lilly looked back and said, "Plus Miley likes that stuff even less than I do."

Miley leaned into Lilly's body, then looked at Kaela and helpfully added, "I hate it."

Kaela said, "Okay, 'Ghost Rider' it is." She handed the movie to Jackson, who paid and checked out. Before he could get the car, however, Miley and Lilly shrieked and took off running across the parking lot. By reflex, he ran after them, fumbling for his keys to unlock the door. He held off on unlocking the doors until he and Kaela arrived, letting Miley and Lilly get a bit more wet than they had planned, then he opened the doors for them. As they fell into the car, Miley and Lilly tumbled into the floorboards together, laughing too hard to be really angry.

Jackson smiled over at Kaela and said, "I had to get 'em back somehow!" She just smiled in return, not commenting. As Miley and Lilly sat up and buckled their regular seat belts, Jackson said, "You two not sitting in each other's lap?"

Miley smiled evilly and said, "No, we're going to wait until we get to Kaela's and watch the movie. _Then_ we can sit in each other's lap."

Lilly looked a bit shocked at Miley's suggestion, but she quickly recovered and added, "I'm glad I wore this skirt, aren't you, Miles?" Miley whirled her head at Lilly, herself surprised at that comment, but she likewise recovered, smiling and leaning over to kiss Lilly.

Kaela said, "Okay, you two, please don't scandalize my mother. I had a lot of fun tonight, and I'd like for her to let me go out with Jackson and hang out with you two some more!"

Miley and Lilly laughed at that, then Lilly said, "We'll keep it restrained, we promise." Miley gave her a hungry look, causing Lilly to look at her lover and ask, "What?"

Miley said, "I didn't promise anything," staring deeply into Lilly's blue eyes. Lilly gave Miley a pleading look, then relaxed when she saw Miley smile. Miley said, "I promise, Kaela, we'll behave."

Kaela turned and said, "Thank you."

When they arrived at Kaela's, it was nine-thirty. The rain had stopped, so they were able to walk normally up to the door. Kaela took out her house key and unlocked the door, stepping inside first and yelling, "Mom! We're back to watch the movie!" She slipped off her shoes, placing them on the floor just inside the door.

Miley and Lilly did the same, with Jackson following after them. Miley said, "We're following you, Kaela."

Kaela led them into a sitting room, where her mother was sitting watching television. The program appeared to be a game show of some kind, but Miley and Lilly had never seen it. Kaela gave her mom a hug and said, "We're back with the movie. Mind if we watch it?"

Her mom looked at everyone and said, "No, that's fine. I can finish this in the bedroom upstairs." She stood up and said, "You kids have fun. Kaela, if the movie runs past eleven, you can finish watching it, but then everyone needs to go home, alright?"

"Yes, Mom," Kaela said, trying not to look too happy.

Her mother said to the others, "I appreciate you three taking Kaela out tonight. She just doesn't socialize much at all since we moved here."

"Mom!" Kaela said, embarrassed. "Why did they need to know that?"

"Because you need to find more friends and get out of this house more, young lady, that's why! A young woman your age should be out chasing boys and having fun. Why, I remember when--"

"Okay Mom, I get the point!" Kaela interjected, trying to stop her mom's speech. She turned to her friends and said, "Just grab a seat wherever you want. I'll get the movie started, then I'm going to change into something more comfortable."

"Okay, thanks Kaela," Miley said, moving to sit on the couch. Lilly approved of her choice, because that left the love seat for Jackson and Kaela, which Miley certainly had planned on. Lilly made her way over to the couch as well, where Miley stretched her left leg out along the couch and placed her right leg on the floor, patting the couch between them. Lilly smiled and grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch, covering her legs as she dutifully sat in front of Miley, leaning back against her lover's body. Echoing Lilly's favorite move when sitting on the couch, Miley gently wrapped her legs around Lilly's body, placing her own legs between Lilly's and entangling them together.

Lilly knew it felt amazing when the position was reversed and she had Miley in front of her, but this feeling was heavenly as well. She felt all of Miley's warmth, wrapped around her in a comforting embrace. She tilted her head back, twisting her neck to try and look into Miley's eyes. "Love you," she said softly.

"Love you, Lilly," said Miley, smiling like the cat who had caught the canary. _This feels very, very sexy._ _Maybe we shouldn't stay for the whole movie..._

Lilly was apparently thinking along the same lines, because she caught Miley's eye again, giving her a questioning look. Seeing Miley had a faraway look in her eyes, she smiled and said clearly, "You know, I'm really tired. All the soccer these past few weeks has me conking out earlier than usual. Is there any way that maybe you and Jackson could watch the movie tomorrow, Kaela?" She knew that Jackson would be upset, but she'd point out that if just he and Kaela were together, he could focus all his attention on her.

Kaela's mother walked back into the room right as Lilly spoke. "That might be a good idea, Kae. Remember, we're going to look at cars tomorrow, and you'll have to get up early to go with me."

Kaela started to protest, but then she realized what her mother had said. "So Jackson can come back over tomorrow night and watch the movie with me?"

Her mother nodded. "And Miley and Lilly are welcome to come too, of course."

Miley looked at Jackson and winked. Then she said, "Well Ms. Davis, Lilly and I already have plans for tomorrow night, so it'll probably be just Jackson and Kaela. And you, of course."

"Alright, that's fine too," her mother said.

Lilly carefully sat up, making sure to keep her skirt down as Miley disentangled their legs. "Thank you for letting us come over, Ms. Davis," she said. "Sorry I'm so tired," she added.

Miley also said, "Yeah, thanks Ms. Davis! Good night." She and Lilly walked to the door, where they slipped on their shoes.

Jackson and Kaela walked to the door together, where Miley and Lilly had already opened the door and stepped outside. Jackson turned to Kaela and said, "I'll see you tomorrow night, then?"

She nodded, saying, "Uh huh," with a soft smile. She leaned forward and hugged him. As they embraced, she whispered, "I had a great time, Jackson. See you tomorrow."

Jackson's heart was racing as he said, "I had a great time too, Kaela. I can't wait 'til tomorrow night."

She winked at him and said, "Well, you'll just have to now, won't you?" She waved and stepped back inside as he walked away from the door, then she closed the door.

When Jackson got to the car, Miley and Lilly were already leaning against the rear door, kissing softly while they held each other. "Okay lovebirds, let's go," he said. The girls broke their embrace, still gazing into each other's blue eyes with passion. As he unlocked the car, they climbed into the rear seat.

Lilly was getting to the point where she had to have Miley, like a craving she couldn't resist. She could feel it building, and she knew from experience that if she started on her lover, she wouldn't be able to stop. She gave Miley a glance and saw the same battle for control on Miley's face. The girls wanted to just surrender to their desire for each other, but they knew it wouldn't be right. It was one thing to make out while Jackson and his date were there on a double date; doing it with just Jackson present would make him highly uncomfortable. So they used all their self-restraint to sit like good girls, not touching out of fear of it turning into something much, much more.

When they were getting close to the house, Jackson looked into the mirror and saw his sister and Lilly were sitting apart from each other. "Are you two okay? Did you get into a fight or something, 'cause it looks like you're staying away from each other."

Miley spoke before Lilly could. "Oh no. We just don't want to let things go too far while we're in the car with you, Jackson."

"Too far?" he asked. "Like ... oh. I think I get it. Um, thanks, I guess?"

Lilly said, "You're welcome, big bro," getting a laugh out of Miley. "What?" she said. "He's going to be my brother-in-law before long, you know!"

Trying to change the subject and deflect her growing desire, Miley said, "Oh, Hannah would love for her lovely girlfriend to accompany her next week when she appears as a guest judge on _Singing with the Stars_."

Lilly's face lit up. "Ooooh, I'd love to go with you! Maybe this time we can enjoy it, since we don't have to fool with Amber being there now."

Miley laughed. "Yeah, and this time I won't get bombed with green dye," she said.

Lilly looked at her girlfriend and said, "You know, I know you told me that you did that because you felt bad for Amber, and because you knew you could deal with it better than she could have..." Her voice trailed off.

Miley looked at Lilly and said, "But..."

"But green looked so good on her!" Lilly said. "And it really doesn't go well with your complexion, Miles."

"You got her back at school, Lilly, remember?" Miley said. "Plus, we got the best revenge on them."

"What's that?" Lilly asked.

"We're happy with each other, and they're always gonna be hateful old bitches!" Miley said with a laugh, sparking a laugh from Lilly and Jackson as well.

"Good point, Miles," Lilly added. "Are we almost home yet, Jackson?" she asked. _I said "home." Easy, Lilly_, she told herself. _You and Miley aren't married yet, so you can't live with her right now. It'll come in time._

Miley watched the thoughts flash across her girlfriend's face. _She said that my house was her home. _She smiled as she thought about that. _And it will be for real, as soon as we're married_. She looked at Lilly, giving her a dazzling smile. "Soon as we're married, girlfriend," she said.

Lilly instantly understood what she meant, and she smiled in return. "Home is wherever you and I can be together, Miley," she said lovingly, taking Miley's left hand in her right.

Miley felt her heart speed up as they looked into each other's eyes. "Jackson, are we about home yet?" she asked, her voice quivering slightly.

"Turning onto our street right now, Miles. You two not able to keep your hands off each other much longer?" he said with a grin.

Lilly shook her head and said, "Nope, getting close to our limits here," never breaking eye contact with Miley.

"Yeah, what she said," Miley added quietly.

As they pulled into the driveway, the girls threw the doors open as soon as the car was in Park, running up to the front door. Lilly pulled out her key first and hastily unlocked the door. She held it open for Miley to run in. Robbie Ray was sitting on the couch, watching television. He turned to look as the door opened and Miley came running inside. "Hey bud, you all have fun tonight?" he asked.

Miley stopped beside her dad long enough to kiss him on the head, saying, "It was great, Daddy. Love you, good night!" She then raced up the stairs, not bothering to take off her shoes.

Right behind her was Lilly. When Miley gave Robbie Ray his kiss, Lilly ran up to him too, just a few steps behind. "Night Mr. Stewart!" she said, kissing the back of his head as well. As she turned and ran to the steps, she called out, "Sorry to kiss and run, but Miley and I have to get upstairs to the ... bathroom! Yeah, we both really really have to go to the bathroom!"

Robbie Ray looked a bit puzzled, but he didn't think too much of it. He was pretty sure it wasn't just the bathroom they were racing to, but teenage girls could be difficult to figure out, even at the best of times. Once again, he found himself pondering the same question he had thought about for the past two months. If Miley had been in a relationship with a boy, there's no way that he'd let that boy spend the night with her. Was Lilly really so different that it was okay for her and Miley to sleep in the same bed? While he didn't know for a fact that they were having sex at least some of the time, he suspected they were.

What truly surprised him was that every time he considered that question, he came to the same conclusion. **Yes**. Lilly really was so different, for more than one reason. Most importantly, he knew, absolutely _knew_, that Lilly would never do anything to hurt or take advantage of Miley. Those girls loved each other with all their hearts, and he'd be willing to bet anything that they'd be together for the rest of their lives. Secondly, he had heard them talk about how the only reason they weren't married yet was that they were too young still. He saw that as the simple truth that it was. He also didn't think they could hold out until they were eighteen, and if Miley asked him to approve them getting married sooner, he expected he would. Still, he wanted them to wait for now, because they were right about another part of that statement: they really were too young at the moment. There was still quite a bit they had to learn before they would be ready to deal with marriage.

Jackson walked in then, talking on his cell phone. "Night, Kaela. See you tomorrow," he said as he clicked off the phone.

"Date go good, son?" Robbie Ray asked.

Jackson sat down on the couch. "Yeah, it went really well, Dad." The sound of the upstairs shower running became audible while Jackson continued. "Kaela is really cool, plus she's beautiful. I had a great time with her, just talking and being around her."

"She's that pretty redheaded girl on the soccer team, right?"

"Yeah," said Jackson, getting a dreamy look on his face.

"Oh no," Robbie Ray said . "I've seen that look before!"

"What look?" said Jackson hastily.

"That 'I'm-in-loooove' look," Robbie Ray said with a grin, grabbing Jackson by the right shoulder and shaking him lightly. Well, not so lightly.

Upstairs, Miley and Lilly had managed to get the shower turned on and their clothes off, but they hadn't quite made it into the shower yet. They hungrily kissed each other, hands roaming freely until Miley jumped into Lilly's arms. Lilly caught her lover, holding her steady against the wall as Miley wrapped her long legs around Lilly's waist, using her hands on Lilly 's head to pull Lilly's face towards hers. Lilly could feel Miley's heat burning into her belly, and she was in great need of connecting with her partner more intimately. She gently knelt down onto the floor, still holding Miley in her arms. Seeing what Lilly was doing, Miley pulled out of the kiss, grinning a naughty grin at Lilly as she reached back for a towel, throwing it onto the floor and spreading it out. Lilly released Miley and added a second towel to give them more room, then she crawled atop Miley.

"Make love to me, Lilly," Miley said gently, looking up into the azure eyes of the woman of her dreams as she ran her right hand down Lilly's soft cheek.

Lilly knelt down and kissed Miley, her desire nearly burning her from the inside. She then pulled out of the kiss and looked down into Miley's own blue eyes. With a tender smile on her face, she said, "For the rest of our lives, Miley. For the rest of our lives."

**Author's Afterword:** Hope everyone is enjoying the story. Like my first one, it might build slowly, but I have a LOT to get into this one, and I don't want to rush it. The story writes itself, I just type it out. I'm trying to keep on a three- or four-day schedule, but please forgive me if I run a day or two longer. I promise I'm trying!

-- Jo --


	3. Chapter 3: Studio Sessions

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the kind reviews! As always, I truly appreciate them, and I'm glad that others share the belief in Miley's and Lilly's love, which really is evident in just casual watching of the show. A friend of mine who has read my first story but never watched _Hannah Montana_saw an episode of it over the weekend, and she called to tell me how obvious the affection between Miley and Lilly really was, even to a new viewer. Maybe someday Disney will accept it, if Miley and Emily would be willing to act it... Oh, and has anyone else noticed how their names are anagrams of each other (Miley -- Emily)? Interesting little coincidence there. Please see Chapter 1 for my standard disclaimers!

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 3: Studio Sessions

_With a new attitude_

_Everything can change_

_Make it how you want it to be_

_--_Hannah Montana"Life's What You Make It"

Lilly woke to the sound of the lawn mower starting outside. The first sight she saw was the sleeping face of Miley, her face smiling even in slumber. Miley's left leg was thrown across Lilly's hips, pulling them fast against each other, while her left arm had made its way up Lilly's shirt during the night, resting against her belly with her hand just short of Lilly's breasts. _Trying to get me in your sleep now, Miley?_ Lilly thought, a grin creeping across her face. _And I love it._ She reached down and gently helped Miley's hand find its goal, the sensation sending a small shudder through her body when Miley's fingers brushed against her skin. Lilly held her hand on top of Miley's, enjoying the sensation, when she saw Miley's smile enlarge, then Miley's eyelids parted, letting her cobalt blue eyes shine forth.

"Morning lover," Miley said, sleep heavy in her voice. "You wantin' some more this mornin'?"

Lilly loved how Miley's accent got stronger when she was sleepy. Or when she was really excited. Or when they were making love. She released Miley's hand, but it stayed firmly in place. Lilly moved her right arm until it was draped across Miley's body, her right hand tangled in Miley's thick dark brown hair. "I always want more from you, Miles," Lilly said, smiling. "I heard the lawn mower start up, so your dad is mowing the yard. Wasn't Jackson working this morning?"

Miley turned her head to check the clock beside the bed. "Yeah, he's working until four today, and it's just nine-thirty."

Lilly's grin grew. "How long does it usually take your dad to mow the yard, an hour?"

Miley nodded, her own smile quite large. "Uh huh. Got something you want to be doin'?" she asked Lilly, using her sultry voice, the one that she knew drove Lilly wild.

"You," Lilly said with a growl as she rolled forward, pinning Miley underneath her as she leaned down and kissed Miley deeply. She positioned her body over Miley's, then she let her hands drift, seeking out Miley's most intimate spots while Miley did the same for Lilly, letting the desires of both young women burn until they were released.

After half an hour, the girls were much more relaxed. "I needed that soooo badly," Lilly said, kissing Miley's hand as she held it to her lips.

Miley smiled as she played with Lilly's soft blonde hair, now wet with sweat. "So did I, Lil," she said. "Oh, I forgot to tell you!"

Lilly sat up in the bed. "Tell me what?"

Miley grinned, sitting up herself. "I got an email this morning. Well, Hannah got an email, actually. We've been asked to come to the winter Fashion Rocks event in New York City!"

Lilly's smile was huge as she said, "That's great, Miley! So Hannah is going to be performing?" Miley nodded. Lilly said, "Is it okay if Lola comes, too?"

Miley stopped nodding. "Lilly, honey, I don't think you understood me," she said. "I said, WE were invited. They want Lola to be one of the celebrity models!" she said, bouncing up and down on the bed.

"WHAT?!?" yelled Lilly, a look of joy on her face. She jumped up, screaming, "Are you SERIOUS?!?"

Miley dragged Lilly back down onto the bed. "Easy there hoss, don't wake up the neighborhood. A naked Lilly jumping up and down on my bed might be noticed by someone." Lilly was still squealing with glee as Miley pinned her to the bed, finally getting her to stop. "Can I trust you not to yell again if I let you up?" she asked her girlfriend.

Lilly looked up and realized that Miley was leaning over her, her gorgeous hair falling down until it was tickling her face. "I love it when your hair tickles my nose," Lilly said, her face glowing.

Miley indulged her by leaning her head forward a bit more then going back and forth, tickling her face thoroughly. As Lilly laughed and tossed, Miley stopped and said, "There. Now you can be content. We need to get into the shower." Miley released Lilly's wrists, sliding off the bed and walking to the shower. Lilly hopped up, running up behind Miley and making her jump forward as she anticipated a smack on the rear. "What was that for, Truscott?" Miley said when Lilly didn't try to pinch or smack her butt.

Lilly smirked as she walked past Miley and turned on the shower. "Oh, nothing, just testing your reflexes. You pass," she said. For her sauciness, Miley gave Lilly herself a pinch on the butt, getting her to jump just a bit.

"Your butt is sooo cute, Lilly," Miley said, as Lilly quickly used the bathroom. "All that soccer is really making your butt and legs look even more amazing," she said, checking out the aforementioned body parts with a long, slow look. Lilly's legs had added a significant amount of muscle and definition in her thighs and butt, and her calves were likewise starting to develop obvious muscles. Miley shivered thinking about how it good it felt to have those legs wrapped around her, pulling her close with obvious strength while they made love. Lilly had even gotten Miley to start walking and playing some with her as she trained, and Miley was noticing improvement in her back and leg strength as well, though not as much as Lilly.

Lilly smiled and said, "It's all for you, my dear." She then stepped into the shower, with Miley following after she used the bathroom. Working at a leisurely pace, the girls washed their hair and bodies, with a few breaks in between for some kissing and touching. After nearly an hour, they turned off the water and stepped out, drying off with their towels.

"So Miles, are you still wanting to get me something for my birthday?" Lilly asked. "Because you really don't have to. Just being with you is enough, really," Lilly said earnestly. Secretly, she did feel a bit bad that she couldn't really afford to get Miley anything lavish for her birthday. But she _had_ thought of something that she expected Miley would be happy to get as a present. She just had to make sure no one else was around when Miley opened it. _Especially_ their parents.

Miley gave Lilly a look of mild disbelief. "Lilly, what good is being Hannah if I can't get the woman I love something really special for her sixteenth birthday?"

Lilly looked a bit ashamed as she cast her eyes toward the floor and said, "I know, Miley, but even though we've already talked about this, I just feel bad bec--" She was abruptly cut off by a pair of warm, soft lips that tasted faintly of cotton candy lip gloss pressing against her mouth.

After a few seconds, Miley pulled back and said, "Now, were you saying something?" Lilly's only response was a weak smile. "Lilly, we _have_ talked about this, you're right." Miley took Lilly's hands in hers and led her over to their bed, where they sat. "What's this we're sitting on, Lilly?" she asked her girlfriend.

Lilly looked at the covers, still messed up from their amorous activities of the morning. "It's our bed..." Lilly said.

Miley then pointed at the ceiling and said, "And where is our bed located? This place with these walls around it?"

Lilly still didn't see where Miley was going, but she figured she soon would. "Our room?"

Miley smiled and said, "Yes! Our room!" She then pointed to the bathroom and said, "And whose bathroom is that?"

"Um ... ours?" Lilly said hesitantly.

"That's right," Miley said. "OURS. Not mine, _ours_." She turned and looked directly into Lilly's eyes. "Lilly, Hannah's money isn't my money. It's _our_ money." She reached up and gently cupped Lilly's left cheek with her right hand, her warm skin soft and smooth from the shower. "My dad manages it until I turn eighteen, but he's been really good with teaching me how to manage money, particularly our money. I'm always going to take care of my family, but I'm also always going to take care of you starting now, not just after we get married. I've already had my will changed, Lilly. I had it done last week. If anything happens to me, everything that's mine becomes yours. That way..." She stopped for a minute, her eyes tearing up slightly. "Sorry, this is a touchy subject for me," Miley said as she sniffed a bit. "Anyway, if anything ever happens to me, you'll be taken care of, Lilly, for the rest of your life."

Lilly grabbed Miley and hugged her fiercely, partly out of a desire to keep from crying herself, partly because even thinking about Miley being gone was horrifying, and partly because the love she felt for Miley was so intense that it threatened to overwhelm her at that moment. "Miles, I ..." She tried to compose herself, only partially succeeding. "If anything ever happened to you, I don't know if--"

"Yes, you could!" Miley said sharply. She pulled back slightly, staying in Lilly's embrace but now where she could look Lilly in her teary eyes. "And you _will _keep going if anything ever happens to me, Lilly Truscott. If it happens in the future, we'll probably have children of our own by then, and they'll need their mother even more. I promise you that I'll keep going if anything ever happens to you ... but I'll hate every night I have to sleep without you. And I'd never, ever want to be with anyone else ever again. I could wait, until I saw you again. Like I know you'd want to wait for me."

Lilly nodded, tears running down her cheeks at the thought of having to live without Miley. "Okay," she said, wiping her tears in a futile effort to stop them. "I could go on, for our children. But I swear on my life, I'd never be with anyone other than you. I would wake up missing you every morning and go to bed missing you every night, but I'd be there for our children." Lilly started crying hard, unable to talk further as she sobbed; instead, she just held Miley, crying onto her shoulder while Miley likewise cried on Lilly's shoulder, the somber subject matter exacting an emotional price from the young women. For a few minutes, the two best friends and partners let their fears of losing each other flow freely, and as their tears slowly subsided, they realized that releasing those tears seemed to help. "I don't like talking about this kind of stuff, Miley," Lilly said, sniffling as she wiped her eyes.

"Neither do I, Lilly, but we need to talk about it sometimes," Miley said, drying her tears as well. "I didn't want to wait until we were married to get things set right. One thing I've learned, sometimes life hits you where you least expect it." She kissed Lilly, expressing how she felt with her lips and her mouth, wordlessly telling Lilly that she loved her and would always be there for her. Lilly returned the kiss with a similar pledge of loyalty and devotion, words unspoken becoming crystal clear across their lips.

As they broke the kiss, Miley said, "Now, as I was saying earlier..." Lilly laughed, tears stopped but still streaked down her cheeks, her smile radiant. Miley continued, "You have money too, Lilly." She stood up and walked over to her dresser, opening it and getting out her red purse, the one she had used earlier in the week. She walked back over to the bed and sat beside Lilly as she opened the purse. Reaching inside, she dug around for a bit, then she pulled out a bright green card which looked like a credit or ATM card. "Here," she said, handing it to Lilly. "This gift card is yours, Lilly. Spend it on what you want. I know you'll be smart about it. It works just like a debit card. The default PIN is the year we were born, but you can change it to whatever you want. You can also sign for it, like a credit card."

Lilly turned the card back and forth in her hand. The signature line on the back was blank, waiting for her to put her name on it. "Miley, you don't have to do this, really." Seeing Miley open her mouth, Lilly quickly added, "But thank you! I'm not going to argue with you, because I really would like to get you something nice for your birthday and for Christmas."

"Well, now you can, but remember, you don't have to," Miley said.

"Right, just like _you_ don't have to get _me_ anything?" Lilly said, raising an eyebrow.

Miley relented. "Okay, point taken," she said, giggling. "Anyway, Daddy was afraid to put too much on that card, but I told him that you needed enough to shop for all your family, so he put three thousand dollars on it."

Lilly's mind whirled. _THREE_ _THOUSAND dollars? _"Miley, that's way, way too much," she said, trying to hand the card back, her heart suddenly racing.

Miley lightly smacked her hand. "No, it's not, because you haven't seen what I'm getting _you_ for your birthday."

That got another eyebrow lift from Lilly. "Is that a hint, Ms. Stewart? Are you treating me to something for my birthday?"

Miley smiled coyly. "Maybe," she said, drawing the word out slowly. "But you'll have to wait and see."

Lilly kissed Miley lightly on the lips, then her hand went behind Miley's head and pulled her in closer for a longer, more passionate kiss. After the kiss but before they pulled apart, Lilly said, "You are too good to me, Miley Stewart, but I love every minute of it, just like I love you."

Miley reciprocated, whispering against Lilly's lips, "I could never be good enough to you, Lilly Truscott, because no amount of money could match how much I love you."

After holding each other for a minute, Lilly said, "Thank you." She then stood, stretching and drawing a playful smack against her belly from her girlfriend. "What was that for?" she asked Miley.

Miley grinned and said, "Oh, I just like testing your abs," getting a smile in return from Lilly.

"As I recall, you already gave my abs quite a workout both last night and again this morning, lover, along with several other muscle groups," Lilly said, coaxing a blush from Miley.

"What can I say?" Miley answered. "I like to be thorough!"

Lilly extended her hand, helping Miley up when she took it. "And I like it when you are so thorough, my dear." She pushed Miley toward the dresser as she safely tucked the gift card into the small wallet she carried her school ID, house keys and cash in. "Now get a swimsuit, girl, so we can hit the beach! I want to swim some today, then we can lay around for a bit."

After getting dressed and sunscreened, Lilly and Miley did indeed hit the beach, swimming and playing in the sand. No soccer balls were with them this time, but they did bring a Frisbee, which Miley was relatively good at throwing and catching. After nearly two hours of playing in the surf and on the sand, they were ready to cool off.

They trudged back up to the house, where they dropped their beach gear on the back porch and then went inside, making a beeline for the shower. Lilly and Miley scrubbed off good, then Lilly flopped down on their bed, wearing just her lacy pink bra and panties, identical to the set that Miley was now wearing; the girls had bought them together last month, along with several other matching pairs. "I'm tired, Miles," she said, yawning. "Want to take a nap with me?"

Miley thought for about a tenth of a second before she said, "Sure," crawling into bed with Lilly and scooting up against her. Miley slid her left leg between Lilly's legs and draped her left arm across Lilly's chest, holding her tightly. In seconds Lilly was snoozing, safe and secure in the arms of her lover. Not a minute later, Miley also succumbed to the call of sleep, likewise at peace holding her precious Lilly.

After a peaceful hour-long nap, Miley awoke. She was careful not to wake Lilly as she gently slid her right arm out from under her girlfriend, laying a soft kiss on Lilly's blonde hair as she eased out of the bed. She put on an old t-shirt and shorts and went downstairs.

"Hi Daddy," she said as she saw her father sitting at the piano, apparently working on a new song. Miley walked over to the kitchen and started unloading the dishwasher before Robbie Ray lifted his head.

"Sorry Miles, I was just tryin' to figure out the chorus for this new song," he said. "It's really drove me nuts all day long. I tried workin' on it while I was mowin', but no luck there either."

"You'll get it figured out, Daddy," Miley said, carrying the pots and pans to the drawer where they were stored. As she finished putting away the dishes, she went to work loading the dirty dishes.

"Hey Mr. Stewart," Lilly said as she reached the foot of the stairs, likewise wearing one of Miley's t-shirts and a pair of her shorts. Being able to share each other's clothes significantly cut down on the amount of clothes they had to carry back and forth between the Stewart and Truscott houses. "Working on a new song?" she asked with a cheery voice, peeking over his shoulder.

"Yep," Robbie Ray, giving Lilly a smile. "Want to help me work it out?" he asked.

"Sure!" said Lilly, a smile on her face.

"Hey!" said Miley. "How come I don't get to help you work on it? It _is_ gonna be my song, after all."

Robbie Ray turned to face Miley as Lilly sat down beside him. "You seem to have your hands full, Miles," he said, smiling at his daughter's dirty hands as she finished loading the dishwasher.

"Ha ha," Miley said, humorlessly. She washed her hands in the sink, then dried them off as she walked over to the piano. Looking over his shoulder, she said, "Hey, that song looks good, Dad."

Robbie Ray glanced over his shoulder and said, "You know, I do have trouble workin' with people lookin' over my shoulder."

Miley said, "Oops, sorry," and she motioned for Lilly to leave her dad alone.

Lilly got up and walked over to the kitchen with Miley. She said, "Aw, I was looking forward to helping write one of your songs!"

Miley gave her a look of surprise and said, "Well, we can work on a song together if you want, Lilly. I had an idea for one that I think would sound really cool."

"Okay," said Lilly, smiling pleasantly. "Since you've already done the dishes, mind if I start vacuuming upstairs?"

"Nope," said Miley. Since they were staying at her dad's house this weekend, they were going to clean the upstairs some today. After their nap, both girls were energized and ready to work. When Miley finished picking up the downstairs and had started a load of laundry, she moved upstairs, where she saw Lilly had finished vacuuming all the rooms upstairs. The girls then went to work on the upstairs bathrooms, finally calling it quits after getting the bathrooms squeaky clean.

As Lilly plopped down in the hall, she said, "I'm pooped, Miles."

Miley joined her, sitting in more of a controlled fall, landing beside her lover. "Yeah, me too," she said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Well, at least we'll sleep well tonight," she said with a grin.

Lilly looked at her and nodded her head. "That's for sure," she added. "Let's get something to drink and see if anything good's on TV."

Miley thought that sounded like an excellent idea. "Sounds great to me, Lil," she said as she slowly got to her feet. "I'll fix the drinks, you fix the snacks."

Lilly smiled and said, "Apples work for you?" Miley nodded. Lilly said, "Good, because they're good for you too!"

Lilly and Miley made their way downstairs, where they watched television with Robbie Ray and Jackson for the rest of the evening, finally getting sleepy around ten o'clock, early for them on a weekend. "You ready for bed, hon?" Lilly said through a massive yawn.

Miley snickered as she said, "Yeah, and I guess you are too."

Lilly tried to cover her mouth as she finished her yawn, but it was like trying to cover a swimming pool with a bath towel. As she finally stopped yawning, she said, "Oh yeah. Shall we?" she said, standing and holding out her hand for Miley. "Night Mr. Stewart, Jackson," Lilly said as Miley rose and took her hand.

"Night Daddy, Jackson," Miley added.

"Night Miles, Lilly," Robbie Ray said.

Jackson said, "Night you two. Get some sleep."

Miley was now slightly pushing Lilly up the stairs, trying to get her girlfriend to move a bit faster. Finally they reached their bedroom. Silently they got undressed, both climbing into the bed at the same time but from opposite sides. As they snuggled together, their naked bodies touching all along their length, Miley said, "Night Lilly," leaning slightly forward to kiss her best friend good night.

"Night Miles," Lilly answered, meeting Miley for a kiss. "Love you."

"Love you, hon," Miley answered, then she rolled over onto her left side. Lilly snuggled closer, draping her right arm protectively over Miley's chest. Without another word, they fell asleep instantly, and no dreams disturbed their sleep that night.

The next few days zipped right along. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and even Wednesday morning came and went in a blur. When the bell for lunch rang on Wednesday, Miley and Lilly told Oliver goodbye then made their way to the office, where they met Robbie Ray coming in to sign them out of school for the rest of the day. As he saw them coming down the hall, he said, "Well, If I didn't know better, I'd think you two were excited about goin' somewhere today," smiling the whole time.

Lilly gave him the first hug, saying, "Hi Mr. Stewart," with Miley piling against Lilly for a group hug on her father and her girlfriend. "We're both totally excited, Daddy," Miley said. "So get on in there and sign us out already!"

Robbie Ray laughed and complied, stepping inside the office and signing the two girls out of school. With their paperwork done, the three of them left and headed for the private parking garage owned by the company that handled limousines for Hannah. As they entered their code and pulled into the secure facility, Robbie Ray parked in Hannah's parking place, though it remained unlabeled other than the _Private Parking_ sign painted on the concrete. Directly beside it, in an oversized parking space, was the limo they would be using today. The three of them switched vehicles, with Miley and Lilly grabbing their bags from the back of the Suburban and taking them into the back of the limo with them. Robbie Ray got changed into a suit in the front section of the limo, adding his fake mustache as his final touch.

Miley was wearing Hannah's signature white leather half jacket and white leather boots with tight blue jeans and a long pale orange t-shirt with an all-over print of Chinese characters for the words _love_, _happiness_, _harmony_ and _peace_ in various subdued colors. Lilly had opted for Lola's white wig today, paired with a black sleeveless miniskirt dress. Underneath the dress she wore a short sleeve pink shirt with white polka dots and matching pink tights with the same white polka dot pattern. Finishing the outfit were a pair of black boots.

Miley looked at Lilly's choice of outfits and said, "Um, Lilly, not sure if you realized this but ... Lola's shirt and tights actually match today."

Lilly took a long look at her shirt, then said, "Oh! Yeah. Well, I figured that since we were going to be on TV, I probably should tone it down a bit." Miley grinned at her girlfriend's concession to the cameras, prompting Lilly to ask, "What? Did I tone it down too much?"

Miley leaned over and kissed Lilly longingly on the lips, prompting both girls to shift closer to each other so they could embrace tightly. When they finally stopped for air, Miley said, "I think you look beautiful. Don't change anything, sweetie."

They felt the limo start, then slowly pull out of the parking place. As a precaution, the limos were rotated frequently to keep them clean and serviced, as well as to keep anyone from associating the tags with a particular occupant. As expected, all of them were kept in excellent condition. One of the perks of being a record company's highest-selling artist ever was the attention to small details, and Hannah's limo was one the limousine company took pride in. Double leather bench seats as large as love seats facing each other, built-in LCD television, DVD player, surround sound stereo and CD player, a minibar with various juices, sodas, waters and snacks, all of these things were part of the luxurious ride Hannah and Lola were treated to. Lilly helped herself to a bottled water as they made the relatively short drive east to Los Angeles. Though less than thirty miles from Malibu, the drive could take anywhere from forty-five minutes to two hours depending on traffic. Today things seemed to be moving smoothly, and within an hour they had arrived at the television studios in Burbank where _Singing With the Stars_ was filmed.

Lilly and Miley checked each other's wigs, makeup, teeth and clothes. Deciding everything was perfect, they sat, waiting for someone to open the door for them to keep up appearances. Without much delay, the limo was stopped and the door was opened. Miley stepped out first, temporarily dazzled by the sun's brilliance, with Lilly following her. Miley had stopped short as she blinked, trying to get her eyes adjusted, and Lilly, equally blinded, ran headfirst into Miley's butt, sending Miley lurching forward but not falling. "Hey!" Miley said, laughing. "You in that big a hurry to get on television, Lola?"

Lilly rubbed her head where she had connected with Miley's right buttock. "Sorry Hannah," she said, "The sun blinded me, and I didn't see your butt there."

Miley decided to have some fun with Lilly, so she said, "Aha, then how do you know it was my butt you ran into?" She gave the young production assistant who had opened the door a wink, getting a grin in return from him.

Lilly straightened up and said with a grin aimed roughly in Hannah's direction, "Believe me sweetheart, I know what your sexy butt feels like, and I recognized it immediately."

Miley turned quite red at that statement, as did the PA, who didn't look any older than the two of them. Lilly continued, "I mean, it's the perfect blend of tight muscles and tender softness, shaped perfectly--" Miley's hand over Lilly's mouth stopped her exposition of the qualities of Miley's rear, preserving what was left of Miley's humility as well.

"Lola, honey, thank you so much for the compliments, but I don't think this guy over here wants to hear about how great my butt is."

The PA hurriedly said, "Oh no, Ms. Montana, I'd love to hear more about your--" This time his mouth was covered by Lilly's hand, stopping him short.

Lilly looked pointedly at Miley, catching her eye. She glanced down at Miley's hand still over her mouth, then returned her gaze to Miley's eyes, prompting Miley to say, "Oh! Sorry," and remove her hand.

Lilly smiled and said, "Thank you, dear." She then looked at the PA—Teddy, according to his ID—and said, without even a hint of a smile, "_I_ am allowed to talk about my fiancée's butt. _You_ are not. Remember that and we'll get along just fine." She removed her hand from his mouth, at which point he swallowed visibly.

Gathering his courage, he sheepishly said, "S-sorry, Ms. Luftnagle."

"Apology accepted," Lilly said politely. "And I forgive you this time. It _is_ a really cute butt."

Avoiding further comment on Hannah's butt, Teddy said, "If you ladies would be kind enough to follow me, we'll get you backstage. They're getting things set up for filming, but a handful of dress rehearsals are still going on."

Miley took Lilly's hand as they followed the young PA into the studio. She leaned in and whispered to Lilly, "I like it when you get protective of me, sweetie, and thank you." She then gave Lilly a quick kiss on the cheek as they stepped into the studio building.

No sooner had their eyes adjusted to the bright sun outside then they were enveloped by the darkness of the studio, requiring another few seconds to let their eyes adjust again. Lilly and Miley took advantage of the pause to shift closer together, so Lilly could hug Miley from behind and whisper, "Thank you for bringing me. I love you."

Miley tipped her head back and said, "I wouldn't have come if you hadn't come with me, Lola. And I love you too," giving her lover a high-wattage smile as she squeezed Lilly's left hand firmly. As Teddy started forward again, Lilly released Miley from her embrace and once again the girls followed him through the winding corridors of the studio set, finally emerging onto the stage of _Singing With the Stars_.

"Hannah!" said an older man with graying hair and a prominent belly, rising from his seat and walking to Miley and Lilly. As he reached them, he said, "And you must be Lola!" as he extended his hand for them to shake in turn. "Excited about being here for the first time, Lola?"

"Um, I was here with Hannah the last time she was here, actually." He looked puzzled for a minute, looking to Miley for confirmation. She nodded her head.

"Yeah, Lola was here with me for the whole green paint disaster," Miley said, referring to the prank they had planned for Amber, a classmate of theirs at Seaview High School and possibly their greatest nemesis at that school now, since Jake Ryan was no longer there. The prank had gone wrong when Miley genuinely felt bad for Amber, who had pinned so many of her dreams on the appearance with Hannah, and triggered the trap herself, taking the paint blast meant for Amber.

"Oh," said the man, whose name Miley was trying frantically to remember. She normally did quite well with names, but she just couldn't remember his name. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember your name," said Miley. His smile never did fade, but he did seem just a bit dejected when he realized that Hannah Montana didn't remember his name. _Oh well,_ thought Miley, _maybe you should have remembered that Lola was here last time, too._

"Steve Reznick," he said. "I'm one of the producers for _Singing With the Stars_."

Lilly spoke up and said, "Then it's nice to meet you, Mr. Reznick. I'm Lola Luftnagle, since we didn't meet last time." As she extended her hand and shook his, his smile seemed to power up slightly and his mood notably perked up.

Miley was impressed at how Lilly had deftly turned the situation around, making him feel better about not remembering her by instead implying that they had never been introduced the last time she was here. _She IS good at this stuff. And she doesn't even know how good she's going to be in show business_. _Not yet_. Miley smiled as she recalled one of her dreams, which had given her a small look at her and Lilly's future and the happiness to come for them. As she let go of her reminiscence, Miley realized that Mr. Reznick and Lilly had walked on forward, where he was introducing her to several other people working on the set. Miley smiled as she watched Lilly cheerfully greeting everyone she was introduced to.

Miley sauntered on over, staying back just a bit so she didn't intrude on Lilly's conversation. Soon enough, Lilly turned and saw her, so she reached back and grabbed Miley's hand, guiding her close to her so they could hold hands. "But anyway," Lilly said, "I was so proud of Hannah, who just plugged right along and toughed it out, even with all that green dye in her hair and on her clothes."

Miley gently nudged Lilly's ribs with her elbow as she asked the crew, "Yeah, that was a really weird accident. Did you ever figure out what happened, or who might have done it?"

One of the cameramen whom Miley did remember from that particular show spoke up and said, "Yeah, it turned out someone set up a paint sprayer of some kind, apparently trying to ruin your appearance. We never did catch who it was, though."

Miley faked a grimace to keep from smiling as she said, "Most have been some crazed fan. Or maybe a stalker of some kind." She turned to Lilly and said, "What do you think, sweetheart?"

Lilly flushed just slightly, but she answered, "Yep, most definitely a crazed stalker of some kind. Had to be."

Mr. Reznick spoke up. "Well, there'll be none of that this time, I promise you!" He signaled for Teddy to come back over, then he said, "Teddy, will you show these lovely young ladies to their dressing room? Then they can look around the set before they meet our contestants for today's show."

Teddy nodded and said, "Right this way, ladies." Miley and Lilly followed him to the side of the studio where the guest dressing rooms were kept. The contestants shared one room, while the guest celebrity was given a separate, private room. As Teddy unlocked the door, Miley and Lilly stepped inside. Miley turned to him and said, "Thanks Teddy! We want to look around the dressing room, then we'll check out the rest of the studio in a few minutes."

He looked a bit unsure, but then Miley said, "Bye!" and waved at him as she closed the door. When the door was closed, she turned around and leaned on the door, looking across the room to where Lilly sat on an overstuffed blue couch. "Finally," Miley said as she slowly walked over to Lilly, deliberately walking slowly and accentuating her wiggle in her walk.

"Are you teasing me, Hannah?" Lilly said, smiling at Miley's showing off. "If you are, it's working, I gotta tell you." As Miley reached the couch, she remained standing immediately in front of Lilly, with Lilly's head roughly at the level of Miley's belly. Lilly reached up and lifted Miley's t-shirt just enough to expose her cute belly button, and she leaned forward and kissed her lover on her belly. Miley dropped her right hand, gently holding Lilly's head from behind, giving a slight pull to keep Lilly's mouth against her warm skin. Lilly continued to kiss her lover's stomach for a minute or two, then she pulled back and tugged Miley's shirt down. "Down here," she said to Miley, pointing at the couch beside her. Smiling, Miley sat, not on the couch but in Lilly's lap, putting a look of pleasure on Lilly's face as she pulled Miley down into a long, steamy kiss.

"We're going to mess up our lipstick," Miley said, not really caring about makeup at the moment.

"Don't care," Lilly said as Miley gently licked Lilly's lips, bottom lip first, then up to the top, with the tip of her tongue. "We can always put on more," she breathed, then she recaptured Miley's lips for several more minutes of prolonged kissing and cuddling. The girls did mange to keep things from going any further, however. In the age of the Internet, a celebrity always had to be aware of the possibility that she was being recorded at any time. Hannah and Lola were most definitely out but while neither Miley or Lilly would mind being seen kissing heatedly, they most certainly wouldn't be comfortable being seen doing anything more intimate. After several minutes of reconnecting with each other through physical contact, Miley and Lilly looked into each other's blue eyes and giggled as they hugged tightly. Lilly beat Miley to, "Love you," with Miley saying it just an instant later.

Smiling brightly, Lilly said, "Okay, let's go look around, so we can see who the contestants are."

Miley slid out of Lilly's lap, standing and then helping Lilly up. "Sounds good to me, girlfriend."

They left the dressing room and made their way down the hall to the dressing room used by the contestants. Outside the room was a security guard, who smiled when he saw Miley and Lilly coming. Both the girls remembered the guard Jeff from the last time they were there, a tall man built like a brick wall but with a ready smile and a bright disposition. As Miley and Lilly approached him, he said, "Ms. Montana, it's a pleasure to see you again! And your beautiful companion here, Ms..."

"Luftnagle," said Lilly, "But it'll be Ms. Montana for me too, before much longer," she said as she extended her left arm, showing her engagement ring to Jeff.

He whistled as he looked at the ring, saying, "Yeah, I heard about that. My momma was watching Oprah when you proposed, Ms. Montana, and she nearly fell out of her chair!"

Miley and Lilly laughed at that, with Miley saying, "Well, I hope she didn't hurt herself!"

Jeff chuckled a bit, then he said, "Naw, she was fine, but she called me right up and told me about it. Said she hadn't seen anything like that since TVs went color." He looked at both girls and said, "Seriously, I remember how much you two were into each other the last time you were here. I'm surprised it took you so long to ask, Ms. Montana, but I guess a lot of that was because you weren't sure how everybody would react."

Miley nodded, agreeing with his observant statement._ Were we really that obvious with our feelings for each other, even then?_ Still considering that thought, she said, "Yeah, but finally I realized that I just couldn't imagine a life without Lola, and then what others thought suddenly wasn't so important as keeping the woman I loved."

"Awww," said Lilly. "You're so sweet!" She hugged Miley and kissed her on the cheek. "Will you marry me?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes at Miley.

Miley laughed, then said, "Yes, I'll marry you. Wait, I think we already did the proposals part, didn't we?"

"Good pickup, Ms. Montana," Lilly said. "Nice that you remembered that ring on your finger, too."

"Of course, future Ms. Montana," Miley said, getting into the verbal sparring.

At that time, the door to the contestant's room opened, and a young woman who appeared to be about the same age as Miley and Lilly stepped out and then closed the door, then she froze when she saw who was standing in front of her. "Oh my gosh!" she yelled. "Hannah Montana!!" She jumped up and down a few times, then started fanning herself as she began spitting out words at a rapid rate. "I am such a huge fan of yours! I've always dreamed of being able to sing for you, and now I might get to sing with you and I just can't believe that I'm actuallyhererightnowandtalkingtoyou--"

Miley held up her hand, trying to stem the tide of words rushing out of the starstruck girl's mouth. "Whoa. What's your name?" she asked.

"Miriam," the girl said. Now that Miley and Lilly had a chance to really look at her, they realized that the girl was probably only about thirteen or fourteen at the oldest, slightly shorter than the two of them, with short black hair cut in a wedge style, not unlike that of Lola's wig. "I mean, WOW!" she said. "If I won, I'd just ... oh, I don't know what I'd do!"

"Maybe take a few deep breathes?" Lilly offered pleasantly. "Hannah loves her fans, but we don't want you to pass out!"

Miley took the opportunity to take back the conversation from Miriam. "Miriam, you already know who I am, but I want you to meet Lola Luftnagle, my fiancée and my best friend." Lilly waved and said, "Hi!"

Miriam did a double take, then she said, "Fiancée? You mean, you two are engaged?"

"Uh huh," said Lilly.

"Like, you're getting married? To each other?"

"Uh huh," said Lilly again.

Miriam looked a bit confused, then she said, "Um, wow! I mean, I never realized... I mean, Hannah, I saw all those pictures of the time you were going out with Jake Ryan, then that Jackson boy, so I never imagined that you, you know..."

"Liked girls too?" Miley offered, getting a nod from Miriam. "Well, I _did_ like boys, and I never really noticed that I was into girls until I realized that over the years I had known Lola, I had fallen in love with her." Miley reached over to Lilly, putting her arm around Lilly's shoulders and gently pulling her close. "And it's not so much that I decided I liked girls better than boys, it was that I liked Lola better than anyone else, boy or girl."

Miriam said, "But wasn't it hard to talk about that? Did you two tell your parents? Are they okay with this?"

It was obvious that Miriam was very interested and more than a bit nervous in talking about the subject of the girls' sexuality. Lilly began to wonder if Miriam herself was dealing with some sexual confusion. She smiled at Miriam and said, "Yeah, it was really hard to tell each other how we truly felt. I mean, we had been friends for a long time, but I knew I was risking losing Hannah as a friend if she didn't have the same feelings about me. That's what took so long for me to say anything to to her. But finally I knew that I had to have her. We were sleeping in the same bed, and finally I just leaned forward and kissed her. When we kissed, it was like I had been in a dark house all this time, but now all the lights had clicked on at once. I knew that she was the person I was meant to be with, and her being a girl wasn't going to keep me from loving her."

Miley gave Lilly a kiss on the temple, then hugged her with both arms. "That's beautiful, sweetheart. Thank you," she said to Lilly.

Lilly said, "You're welcome." She then turned back to Miriam and said, "And yes, we told our parents, and we were very lucky to have understanding parents who loved us both. Both our families were instantly accepting of our relationship, and that reassured us tremendously." She paused, becoming more sure that Miriam had some conflicts deep inside. "Miriam, if you have feelings for someone that you care about, you owe it to yourself and to them to take that chance and tell them how you feel. If she's a true friend, then she'll still be there whether she has those same feelings for you or not."

"But I would just die of shame if she didn't--" Miriam stopped short, realizing that she had said more than she had planned.

"Miriam, it's okay," said Miley. "Love is love, regardless of its target. As long as two people are mature enough to deal with those emotions and freely give that love to each other, it's a beautiful thing."

Miriam started to smile just a bit. "Well... I do have, like, feelings, for one of my friends. When I see her walking, she just looks so beautiful, and when she talks to me, it's hard for me to concentrate on anything else."

Miley asked, "How do you feel when boys talk to her?"

Miriam quickly said, "I don't like the fact that they can flirt with her, but I can't. I want to be able to talk to her and have her laugh with me like she does with them."

Lilly looked at Miley. "Sounds familiar," she said, her voice heavy with remembrance.

"Yeah," said Miley, looking back at her girlfriend. "Think about giving your friend a chance to hear how you feel about her, Miriam. I mean, there is a chance that she could say no, but there's also a chance she could say yes. And if she really is a true friend, even if she says no, she'll still be there for you and care about you, just not in the way you'd really like. You could still stay good friends, but you wouldn't be carrying this dark secret around the rest of your life. Even more importantly, you wouldn't look back on your life years later and wonder what might have been."

"Hannah, you are amazing," Miriam said with obvious awe. "And Lola, you are amazing too. Thank you both." Suddenly remembering where she was, Miriam said, "Oh! I have to go to the stage, so they can show me where to stand and what to do on the show!" She started to run down the hall, thens he suddenly stopped and said, "Thank you, Hannah and Lola. I hope I get a chance to sing with you, Hannah!" She then turned and ran down the hall, not turning back around this time.

"She seems sweet," said Lilly as they listened to the clacking of her heels echo down the hall. "I hope things work out well for her. If this friend isn't the right one for her, then maybe she'll have found the courage to keep looking wherever her heart leads her."

Miley held Lilly tighter as she said, "Yeah, I hope so." She looked around, as if she had forgotten something. "Where did Jeff go?" she asked Lilly.

Lilly just then noticed that the guard was indeed nowhere to be seen. "I ... don't know. I didn't even notice he had left," she said, looking around. "Did he go in the room?" she asked, not seeing anywhere else nearby.

Miley said, "Let's see," opening the door. As they stepped inside the room, they saw that Jeff was indeed inside. He was sitting just next to the door. As the girls walked in, he stood as the two other occupants of the room were busy arguing about something, one a tall boy with reddish hair who appeared to be fifteen or sixteen, the other a small, petite blonde girl who wasn't that much bigger than their classmate Rico. As Jeff saw them enter, he said, "Figured you young ladies wanted some privacy for your talk."

"Thank you very much," said Miley. "You're very thoughtful." At the sound of her voice, the two arguing teens stopped yelling and turned to regard the newcomers.

"Eeeeeeee!" squealed the blonde girl, who ran forward, stopping in front of Miley but hopping up and down in place. "Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh," she kept repeating, putting a smile on Miley's and Lilly's faces.

Lilly turned to look at Miley and said, "The Hannah aura gets 'em every time." Miley gently smacked Lilly's chest with the back of her hand, getting a grin from Lilly, who captured Miley's hand and didn't release it.

"Hi sweetie, what's your name?" said Miley, leaning forward and slightly down.

The bouncy girl stopped bouncing, her eyes fixated on Miley. "My name's Clarissa! And you're Hannah Montana!" she yelled, making Miley and Lilly both wince at the high pitch the girl's voice reached.

"Okay Clarissa, can you turn down the volume for now?" Miley asked. The girl complied, smiling up at her favorite singer.

"I love all your albums, Hannah! I have all of them, and I listen to them every day. I just got your new one two weeks ago, and I love it! That was so neat how you put that rebate in it for those of us who already had your albums, because I wound up getting it for just five dollars! I also think that's so cute how you dedicated that album to your girlfriend who's..." she trailed off, her brain just now registering who was standing beside Hannah. "...who's standing right here next to you!" she finished. "Wow! You're Lola! You are SO lucky, because you have the coolest friend ever."

Lilly smiled widely as she leaned down and said, "You're right, and thanks Clarissa!" She started to ruffle the young girl's hair when she remembered that Clarissa was going on television soon, so Lilly left her hair alone. "How old are you, Clarissa?" Lilly asked.

"I turn thirteen next month!" she said proudly.

"Wow, you're pretty young for this show, aren't you?" Lilly asked. The girl nodded, then started to tell Lilly about how she made it through the auditions. ALL the auditions. For the past six months.

While Lilly talked to Clarissa—or, more accurately, listened to Clarissa—Miley walked over to the third finalist, who stood in front of a mirror, fussing with his necktie. "Hi!" Miley said. "What's your name?"

He turned to regard her, and his eyes got big. Miley grinned. Hannah tended to have that effect on boys. He gulped, then stammered, "M-my name is J-J-James."

"Well James," said Miley, "how old are you?"

"Fifteen," he said. "That's how old you are too, right?" he asked, remembering to smile.

"Yeah," said Miley, "but Lola and I turn sixteen next week."

"Oh yeah, Lola," he said, sounding a bit put out.

Miley felt her hackles rise as her mind shifted into its "Protect Lilly" mode. "What's wrong with Lola?" she asked cautiously.

James looked at Miley and said, "Just the fact that now that you and her are together, none of the rest of us in love with you have a chance."

Miley let a small smile creep onto her face as she said, "James, Lola and I have always been meant for each other. Anyone else I dated was a mistake, both for me and for whomever I was dating." She felt compassion ease into her voice as she continued to speak. "Don't waste years pursuing someone you really could never be with. Instead, listen to your heart when it tries to tell you something. I didn't for a long time, and I spent several years chasing others when I could have been with the woman I love. There's someone out there for you, just keep looking and listening."

James seemed to brighten up when Miley finished speaking. "Thanks, Hannah. You really are as nice as everyone says," he said, smiling. Right about then, Lilly walked over.

"Hey Hannah," Lilly said. "Sorry about that."

"Did Clarissa go somewhere?" Miley asked, not hearing the young girl anymore.

"Sound check and her rehearsal," Lilly added, relief evident in her eyes.

Miley snickered. "Okay," she said. "Lola, this is James," she said to Lilly, motioning to the young man next to them.

"Hi James!" Lilly said cheerfully. "Nice to meet you!"

He shook Lilly's hand, then he said, "Wow, you're almost as beautiful as Hannah is!"

"Gee, thanks ... I think," Lilly said, drawing a look of concern from Miley. Lilly then grinned and said, "Just joking! Hannah _is_ more beautiful than anyone else, isn't she?" She looked at Miley with nothing but love in her eyes, evident to anyone who cared to look.

"Aw," said Miley, reaching out to cup her right hand on Lilly's left cheek. "You're just as beautiful as I am, hon, if not even more."

Lilly smiled, then she said, "Well, it's because I'm in love with someone who's totally amazing and who makes me happier than I've ever been," resting her left hand over Miley's right.

James just watched the two girls' conversation in silence, then he said, "You two really are in love. Wow." He paused as Miley and Lilly both turned to regard him, smiles on their faces. "You're really brave, to come out like you did."

Miley said, "Well, I don't think it was exactly courage that did it, more like fear. Fear that I'd lose the person I loved with all my heart before I had the chance to tell her how much I needed her and loved her."

Lilly took Miley's hand off her cheek and kissed it softly. "Same here, Hannah. I couldn't have made it without you."

"Now you don't have to," Miley said, smiling. "Because we're always going to be together."

Right then they were interrupted by the abrupt arrival of Teddy, the young PA, who ran abruptly into the room. "Sorry to bother you, Ms. Montana, Ms. Luftnagle, but we need you two on the set right now."

Lilly and Miley looked at each other, then they hurriedly followed Teddy through the hallways, quickly arriving on the main set. There they saw Mr. Reznick and several other people talking frantically. As they saw Miley and Lilly appear, they all turned to them. Mr. Reznick stepped forward and said, "Hannah, Lola, we sort of have a problem."

Not liking the tone of his voice, Miley said, "What's going on?"

"Well, our host has just gotten sick backstage," he said, the expression on his face unreadable but the sweat beading on his forehead speaking very clearly.

A woman who appeared to be in her thirties stepped forward, saying, "Puking his guts out is more like it, Steve. That's what he gets for eating at that nasty greasy spoon restaurant he likes."

"Yes, well, Colleen," Mr. Reznick said, "He might have brought it on himself, but now _we're_ the ones paying for it! It's ten minutes before we have to start filming, all these people have been flown out here, and we don't have a host!" His face turned progressively darker as he spoke, finally stopping at a dull shade of crimson.

Suddenly Miley had a flash of insight, one of those moments in which things appear as clear as a pool of still, shallow water. Clearing her throat, she said, "Uh, I have an idea." As everyone turned to look at her, Miley reminded herself that she was Hannah right now, as well as the show's celebrity guest for this week. Her idea, no matter how crazy, would be taken very seriously right now. "I think I have your replacement host covered," she said, smiling brightly. _Confidence in yourself inspires confidence in others_, Miley thought to herself.

Colleen said, "Hannah, you can't perform hosting duties plus sing and judge the contestants, it's just impossible. But I do appreciate you offering." Mr. Reznick sadly nodded his agreement with her statement.

Miley quickly said, "I wasn't offering to host the show."

"You weren't?" Mr. Reznick said.

"Nope," said Miley. She swallowed, thinking, _Here we go._ Steeling herself and saying a quick prayer, she confidently said, "Lola can host the show!"

"Lola?" said Colleen.

"Lola?" echoed Mr. Reznick.

"LOLA?!?" yelled Lilly.

"Lola," said Miley, as sure of what she was doing as she ever had been.

**Author's Afterword:** Got you hooked for the next chapter, don't I? Feel free to make your predictions as to who will win, too. Sorry I was a day late with this one, but it _was_ a longer chapter. Expect the next chapter sometime over the weekend; I'll hurry as best as I can.

On a grammatical note for anyone who notices, yes, for these stories I will occasionally end sentences with prepositions. I think it fits in with the mood of the story well enough that it doesn't detract from the story itself but instead helps facilitate things by preventing unnecessarily long and awkward sentences. I'll also deliberately insert other grammatical errors here and there, but only in spoken dialog and only if it fits how a character talks. For those of you still in school, don't do either of these in your English or Composition classes, or you'll get dinged for it. Consider yourself warned.

-- Jo --


	4. Chapter 4: You Gotta Believe

**Author's Note:** Okay, time to pick a winner on the show. Thanks for the kind reviews for the previous chapter; I do appreciate them. Lilly and Miley also appreciate everyone wishing for Lilly to do well. Something tells me that she'll do just fine. Oh, since in this story and on the TV show it's not public knowledge that Hannah really is Miley, for this and subsequent stories I'm saying that the _Meet Miley Cyrus_ album was released as Hannah Montana's third album, titled _Three_. Not trying to confuse anyone, but I wanted to clear up that annoying little conflict.

Please see Chapter 1 for my standard disclaimers! Also, I make no claims on a certain blonde actress/singer who very briefly cameos in this chapter, nor do I intend any copyright infringement on her. Enjoy!

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 4: You Gotta Believe

_Maybe it's your time to lift up and fly_

_You won't know if you never try_

_I will be there with you all of the way_

_You'll be fine_

_--_Hannah Montana"Make Some Noise"

"I've never hosted a television show before!" Lilly said somewhat frantically.

"Lola, you'll do great, I know it," Miley said with total confidence. "I know you can do this, because I've seen how great you are with people, how your personality shines in everything you do, and how fast you can think on your feet. Plus, you've been here before when the show's been filmed, remember? You know how it works, how the show moves, and what to do. You can step right in front of the camera and make this happen." Miley stepped directly in front of Lilly, looked her in the eyes and said, "You can do this. All you have to do is believe."

Lilly still looked unsure, but she said, "Just believe?"

Miley nodded. "Like you believe in us," she said softly.

Lilly smiled slightly as she said, "Well, that's a lot of belief right there."

Miley smiled back. "I know without a doubt that you can do this and do it right. You're going to be amazing."

Lilly searched Miley's eyes for any sign of doubt. There was absolutely none to be found. _She __is__ convinced I can do this. And if she believes in me that strongly, then I can do it. If not for me, then for her. For us._ Lilly gathered all her confidence, drawing from Miley's love, channeling her lover's belief in them into courage. "You're right, Hannah. I _can_ do this, and I'm going to do it right." She turned to the assembled producers, all looking like they were about to collapse with anxiety. "You've got yourself a host!" she said, smiling proudly.

The three producers looked at each other. Colleen, who was the youngest producer present, looked to be in her early thirties, but she spoke with the tone of a Hollywood veteran. "Give her the mike," she said, her voice resolute.

The other two producers, both men, looked stunned. The older one, Steve Reznick, was slightly rotund with a receding hairline, but by the way he carried himself it was obvious he was the senior producer on _Singing With the Stars_. "I'm not sure this is the best idea, Colleen," he said.

The other man was younger than Reznick but still appeared to be in his early forties. He had sandy blonde hair with a scruffy beard, and his green t-shirt and khaki pants implied he was overly casual, but all the crew of the show had total confidence in Pete Halvey. He had first pitched the idea of the show four years ago, and he had personally crafted it into a hit over those years. Getting Hannah Montana last year was his biggest accomplishment yet, and that episode had scored the show's highest ratings ever. Now he was faced with Hannah's return, three contestants who had all been flown in from around the country, a full studio audience, no host and no time to find a new one. There really was no sane choice. So he made an insane one. "Do it," he said.

"What?" said Reznick. "Pete, you can't be serious!"

"Yes I can, Steve! We don't have a host, and the show starts in five minutes! Have you forgotten that we're live today? For Hannah's performance?" Halvey yelled.

Colleen spoke up as well. "Steve, I saw how Lola handled herself when she and Hannah were in Las Vegas, both on _Oprah_ and during that massive press crush that followed the show. She can do it. Plus, like Hannah pointed out, she's been here before, she knows how the show works, and she's seen what the host has to do."

Miley smiled at the vote of confidence the producer was giving Lilly. She caught Lilly's eye and gave her a wink.

_You can do it, sweetheart_.

Lilly smiled at Miley, but inside she was nowhere near as confident as she was acting. _Okay Truscott, you can do this. You can do this for Miley._ "Okay, I'm ready," she said, striding to the mark on the floor where the host stands to start the show. "Let's roll!"

"Uh, Lola?" Miley said. "You might want to get the microphone first." She gently pointed at the microphone, still on the stand beside the camera.

"Right!" Lilly said, bounding off the stage and grabbing the microphone. She looked at it and said, "How do you turn it on?"

"We'll turn it on, Lola," Halvey said. "You just hold it, okay?" he said, smiling.

"Hold it, gotcha!" Lilly said. Her heart was fluttering, and she was sure she was going to pass out, she just wasn't sure how long it would take before it happened.

Miley saw the pallor of Lilly's face, and she knew she had to do something. She stepped onto the stage as someone called out, "We're live in one minute!" She grabbed Lilly's head with both of her hands and pulled her into a deep kiss. As they kissed, Lilly wrapped her arms around Miley, holding her tightly. Miley could feel the tension in Lilly's arms and neck slowly release with their kiss, the heat of their love burning away Lilly's fears like matches tossed into a bonfire.

As their lips slowly separated, Lilly gently opened her eyes, in time to see Miley slowly open her own eyes, a look of pleasure on her face. "Thank you, Hannah," she said to her lover. "See you in a minute, now go get behind the panel! Go go go!" she said, shooing her away. Miley grinned and ran behind the opaque panel used to introduce the celebrity guest for each show.

"We're live in five, four, three, two..."

Lilly held the microphone steady and she looked directly into the camera, a warm smile now securely on her face. "Hi everyone, and welcome to _Singing With the Stars_! I'm your special guest host tonight, Lola Luftnagle, for a very special show. Tonight we are broadcasting live from our studios in Burbank, California, in honor of our most popular celebrity guest ever. Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, welcome back the Teen Queen of Pop, Hannah Montana!!"

The spotlight centered on the panel, which swiftly rose up, revealing Hannah, beaming with excitement. "Hi everyone! I'm Hannah Montana, and I am _so_ excited to be back here!" She walked over to Lola, giving her a hug and a quick kiss on the lips. She turned to face the camera and said, "Maybe this time I won't get blasted with green paint!," drawing a laugh from the studio audience.

Lilly kept grinning as she said, "You're such a kidder, Hannah!" She covered the microphone with her hand and whispered, "I said I was sorry!"

Miley whispered back, "Sorry, couldn't resist."

Lilly held the microphone back up and said, "Well Hannah, I'm afraid it's time for you to disappear for a few minutes, so we can meet tonight's contestants and hear what songs of yours they're going to sing." Miley waved to the audience and the camera, squeezing Lilly's hand and smiling at her girlfriend as she walked off the stage.

As Miley exited the stage, she hurriedly ran into the wings, where she could watch and support Lilly. As she found a good vantage point in the shadows, it dawned on her at how complete a role reversal this had become: Miley was now the one beside the stage, watching the young woman she loved give everything she had to her performance. Surprisingly, it felt much better than Miley had ever expected.

As the show went on, Lilly found her rhythm quickly. After the opening segment, Lilly started to interview the contestants. By random selection, Miriam had been chosen to go first. As she walked onto the stage, her nervousness was quite obvious. Lilly introduced her, reading the information off the cue cards, then she turned her back on the cue cards entirely.

"What's she doing?" hissed Reznick. "She's not following the cards!"

Miley moved closer, so she could better hear the discussion between the producers. At that time, Lilly asked Miriam, "Miriam, what is it that Hannah Montana represents to you?" Miriam looked stunned, but then Lilly said, "Just think about it for a minute, and say what your heart tells you," smiling kindly at the dark-haired girl.

Lilly's smile had a profound effect on Miriam. She started to say something, then she closed her mouth quickly. She then tried again. "Well, Lola, what Hannah means to me has changed over the last few hours. When I first auditioned for this show, I thought Hannah stood for success, for being famous and having people all across the country look up to you. But after a conversation with two remarkable women just a few minutes ago," she said as she gave Lilly a knowing look, "I now think that Hannah represents standing up for something you believe in. Whether it's the music you sing or the person you love, she stands for the courage to put your heart on the line and do your best, and that's what I hope I can do tonight."

"That's beautiful, Miriam!" Lilly said, meaning every word of it. "What song are you going to sing tonight?"

Miriam looked out into the audience as she said, "I'm singing 'As I Am,' and I'd like to dedicate it to someone very special to me. Someone who until right now didn't know just how special she was to me. Tracy, I mean every word in this song, because I'm singing it to you. I love you."

Lilly looked like she was fighting back tears, but then Miriam turned back to her and said, "I know how special this song is to you and Hannah, Lola, and I hope I can make you two and Tracy proud."

As the music started, Lilly stepped back off the stage, wiping her eyes. Someone offered her a tissue, which she gladly took, wiping her eyes. But then arms wrapped around her chest, startling her for a second until she recognized a scent now intimately familiar. "I was wondering where you had run off to, sweetheart," Lilly said.

"I was listening to the producers discuss whether they've made a horrible mistake or a brilliant choice," she said, nuzzling the back of Lilly's neck.

"Ha! So what's the running vote so far?" Lilly asked, goosebumps rising across her neck and back from Miley's touch.

"Two to one in favor of brilliance, at the moment," Miley said. "But you've got time to make it three to nothing."

Lilly focused on Miriam's singing for a minute. "Her voice isn't as pure as yours, but she's definitely singing from her heart," she said to Miley.

Miley nodded her head, which Lilly felt rather than saw. "Yeah, that's giving her performance a real punch, too. You can see that she's feeling the words as she's singing them." She kissed Lilly on the cheek, then said, "Looks like our first contestant has gotten off to a strong start."

Lilly turned to look at Miley now. "I thought what she said was so sweet! You've inspired her to come out and take a chance with her friend," she said.

"Lola, that wasn't me who inspired her to do that, it was you," Miley said with a smile.

"How about us?" Lilly offered. "Compromise? Because I'm going to say that you're the inspiring one."

"Just like I'm going to say that you're the one who inspired me," agreed Miley. "Compromise it is. Us." She looked back at the stage, listening to where Miriam was in the song. "She's finishing, and she's going to be totally drained when she's done. Get ready to go back on so she can get off the stage before she collapses. I'll help her when you're back on." Miley moved back into the wings, changing position so she was closer to Miriam.

As Miriam finished her song, the audience exploded in applause and cheers. Lilly quickly got back on stage and gave Miriam a hug, then she helped the nervous girl to the side of the stage, where Miley helped her step off and find a seat. Lilly turned back to the camera and said, "Wow! What a heartfelt performance! It looks like our other two contestants have got high standards to live up to tonight. We'll be right back to meet contestant number two, right after this."

A voice called, "And... we're clear!"

Lilly rushed to the side of the side of the stage where Miley was waiting. "Is Miriam okay?" she asked Miley worriedly.

Miley smiled and said, "Oh, I think she's fine," taking Lilly's hand and leading her down a corridor. As they turned a corner, they saw Miriam and a girl roughly her age with blonde hair streaked with green and pink highlights sitting in the floor, kissing softly.

"Aww," whispered Lilly. "I guess this would be Tracy."

"That would be my guess too," whispered Miley. "Let's let them have some time alone before they see us," she said, leading Lilly back around the corner. As they approached the stage, Miley said, "You're doing great! I'm so proud of you, Lola!"

Lilly leaned into Miley's embrace and said, "Thanks sweetheart. It was kinda scary at first, but now it's just fun, really."

Miley grinned. "Perfect. That's how I feel now when I perform." She hugged Lilly tightly, then looked into her eyes as she said, "I'm glad I can share these feelings with you now that you've experienced 'em."

Lilly smiled and quickly kissed Miley on the lips. "I'm glad we can share them now too. Who knows, I might start to like this," she said as she pulled away, walking back to the stage.

Miley watched the woman who held her heart in her hands walk back onto the stage. _You have no idea, sweetheart._

Lilly picked the microphone back up and asked, "When are we back?"

Colleen said, "Fifteen seconds, Lola. You're doing great, by the way," giving her a smile.

Lilly smiled back and said, "Thanks! I'm really having fun now; it's not scary any more."

Colleen held up her hand, all fingers extended, then slowly ticked them off to count down their return to broadcasting live.

"Welcome back to _Singing With the Stars_!" Lilly said cheerfully. "Now it's time to meet our second contestant. James, come on out!"

As the audience politely applauded, the red-headed young man walked over to Lilly. "Okay James, how long have you been singing?"

With only slight hesitation, he answered, "I was singing as long as I can remember, but I'm been singing for others since I was six. I started in church, then in school events, and now I'm trying to make a career in music."

Lilly smiled as he grew more comfortable talking about something he was familiar with. She had hoped that giving him a more grounded question would ease her nervousness, and it appeared to work. "Well, what song are you going to sing for us today, James?"

"I'm going to sing 'Right Here'," he answered simply, not offered any further exposition.

Lilly asked, "What made you pick that particular song?"

He thought for a minute, then answered, "Well, some of Hannah's songs really are hard to sing for most male singers, with some of the notes that have to be hit and held. Last year, I started singing 'Right Here' for some of my friends and family, and I got really comfortable with it the way I sing it. I'm hoping everyone else will like it, too."

Lilly smiled at him as she said, "There's only one way to find out! You ready to sing for Hannah, James?" He nodded. Lilly looked back at the camera and said, "Let's hear it for James, then, as he sings his version of 'Right Here'!" She stepped back as he began, his voice much richer than would be expected by looking at him. He sang with a honeyed tenor voice, giving the song a different sound indeed, making it more resonant as he sang. All too soon, the song was over, but the audience cheered loudly for him, applauding his effort.

Lilly walked back over and said, "Wow, that was great! I never even thought about that song being sung that way, but it sounded really good!" She led James off the stage, then she turned to the audience and said, "Of course, I'm still partial to the original singer, but then I _am_ thoroughly biased since I'm madly in love with her," getting a solid laugh and a few cheers from the audience. "Alright, time for our last contestant today. Clarissa, will you come on out, please?"

The pixie-like blonde girl with her hair in pigtails bounded onto the stage, her energy barely contained in her small frame. "Hi Lola!" she said, full of excitement.

Lilly smiled as she knelt down before the tween. "How old are you, Clarissa?"

"You already asked me that backstage, Lola," she said, grinning as she got a chuckle from the audience.

Lilly laughed too, then said, "Yeah, I did, but the audience wasn't there, so they don't know."

Clarissa looked at the audience and said, "I turn thirteen next month!" proudly.

Lilly then asked the girl, "Were you excited to meet Hannah today?"

"Golly gee, you bet I was! I nearly peed on myself when I saw you and her!" As everyone in the building laughed at that honest statement, Clarissa looked a bit embarrassed, but she recovered quickly. "I love all of her songs, and I hope I can sing well enough to get a chance to sing with her today!"

Still on her knees in front of the small girl, Lilly said, "So what are you going to sing for us today, Clarissa?"

Clarissa said with supreme confidence, "I'm gonna sing, 'I'm a Rock Star'!"

Lilly grinned as she stood and said, "Then 'Rock Star' it is! Hit it, girl!" As the music started, she moved to the side of the stage, where Miley came over and stood beside her.

When Clarissa opened her mouth to sing, both Miley's and Lilly's eyes widened at the powerful voice coming from the girl standing in front of them. Clarissa's voice had a stunning impact, and she sang with great vocal range, effortlessly bouncing from one octave to another as she sang. "My gosh," whispered Miley.

"Uh huh," echoed Lilly, her eyes fixated on the tiny singer. "How is that voice coming from that little thing?"

Miley was thoroughly impressed. "Look at how she's focusing on the audience, too. She's got 'em, this early into the song. She's got a career ahead of her."

"It's gonna be tough to decide between her and Miriam," Lilly said. "I mean, Clarissa has the better voice and is the better singer, but Miriam sang from her heart and felt every bit of the song. James was good, but he's just not in their class."

Miley turned to look at Lilly, impressed with her judging. "I agree totally. You have a hard decision to make, Ms. Host."

Lilly looked a bit perplexed. Just then, a soft voice behind the girls got them both to turn suddenly. "Excuse me," Miriam said. As Miley and Lilly whirled to see her, they saw her friend Tracy was standing there with her. Miriam guided Tracy forward and said, "This is my friend—I mean, my girlfriend Tracy. Tracy, this is Hannah Montana, and her fiancée Lola Luftnagle."

"It's good to meet you, Tracy," Miley said, smiling as she shook Tracy's hand.

Lilly likewise smiled, but immediately after she said hello and shook Tracy's hand, she gave Miriam a hug. "Congratulations, Miriam, looks like being honest worked for you, too," she said.

"Yeah, it worked better than I ever had dreamed," Miriam said, her eyes wet with tears of joy. Tracy leaned in close and hugged Miriam, who said, "Thank you two for giving me the courage to do that. I don't care if I ever accomplish anything in singing ever again, now that I have Tracy with me."

Lilly turned and looked at Miley, giving her an inquisitive look. Miley returned the look, thinking that Miriam's statement had probably sealed Lilly's decision for the show. Miley said, "Miriam, you're probably not going to win tonight, but how would you like to sing backup for me at a show in the next few weeks?"

"Seriously?" Miriam said, excitedly. "Backup for you?" Miley nodded. "Wow, I'd love it!"

Miley was thrilled. She looked to Lola and said, "The little powerhouse is about to finish, so you need to get back over there, hon." Lilly nodded and moved back onto the stage right as Clarissa finished.

Miley continued, "Stick around after the show, and I'll find my manager and have him talk to you and your parents, Miriam, okay?"

"Okay Hannah," Miriam said, shaking with excitement. "And thank you and Lola again, from both of us."

"You're welcome, you two," Miley said. "Be thankful for every day you have together."

"We will," Miriam and Tracy both said, simultaneously.

Miley smiled, then she turned around to watch Lilly, who was just telling the audience they'd be right back after commercial to declare a winner. As everyone took a quick break to get a drink, Lilly stood in place, as the producers had told her it would be only a one-minute break. Quickly, they gave her the countdown, and then they were live again.

Lilly said, "Welcome back!" She turned to the audience and said, "Time to declare a winner, but all three of our contestants did a great job tonight. So, after lots of consideration, tonights' winner is ... Clarissa!" As the little girl jumped up and down, the audience went wild. Lilly politely hugged James and Miriam, who had to be pushed back onto the stage by Miley to leave Tracy long enough to take her hug. Lilly then turned to Clarissa and said, "You ready to sing with Hannah Montana, Clarissa?"

Clarissa shouted, "YES! YES!" as she jumped up and down.

Lilly laughed and said, "Then, get on out here, Hannah, let's not keep our winner waiting!"

Miley hopped up onto the stage and crossed over, stopping to give her girlfriend a hug on the way. Lilly smiled at Miley and whispered, "Knock 'em dead, lover." Miley winked at her in return, then she took Clarissa's hand and said, "You know my new single G.N.O., Clarissa?" The young girl nodded vigorously. Miley whispered, "If you need the words, they're on the prompter right beside the camera, okay?" Clarissa nodded again but said, "I don't need 'em, Hannah, I love that song." Miley grinned and said, "Then let's burn it up, girl!"

As the music started, that's exactly what they did. Miley and Clarissa made a good duo, their voices complimenting each other very nicely throughout the whole song. Both of them got totally into the song, laughing as they sang together like they had been doing it for years. As they finished, the audience stood, giving them a grand ovation.

Lilly stepped back onto the stage, putting her arms around Miley as she said, "That's it for tonight's _Singing With the Stars_, everyone! Tune in next time for our next celebrity guest star..." Lilly pointed to the opaque panel, with a silhouette of a young woman standing behind it. As Lilly finished, the panel rose up, a beautiful blonde girl cheerily said, "Me, Ashley Tisdale!"

As the music rolled, a voice yelled, "Audio is OFF!" The audience continued to cheer though, and Lilly really couldn't help herself as she gave Miley a soft kiss on the lips, holding it for just a second or two and getting a grin and laugh from Miley. Clarissa offered the statement, "Well, at least you're not kissing a boy. Yuck!" That got a solid laugh from everyone around the stage, then a voice said, "And, we're clear!"

All the producers hurried over to where Clarissa, Miley and Lilly were standing. Colleen was the first to speak. "Lola, you were incredible! You've never hosted a show before?"

Lilly shook her head. "Nope, but I could be persuaded to do it again, I think," she said with a grin.

Colleen smiled as she said, "Well, if you have some free time next week, I'm looking for a few more special guests for _Sesame Street_, and I think you'd be wonderful with kids." She handed Lilly a business card and said, "Think about it, and give me a call in the next few days."

Lilly took the card and said, "Thanks! I used to love Sesame Street when I was a kid, so I'd love to do it!"

Colleen patted her on the back and said, "Like I said, call me in a few days. And again, nice job today, young lady. I see a future for you in Hollywood."

Lilly laughed as the producer walked off, saying, "That'll be the day." She looked at the card, thinking for a bit as she waited on Miley to finish talking with Ashley Tisdale. "Although, this was pretty fun..." 

After a few minutes, Miley and Lilly met up backstage. Miley saw Lilly talking with Robbie Ray next to their dressing room, so she hurried over there. "Hi my two favorite people in the world!" she said.

Lilly hugged Miley and said, "Thank you so much for bringing me! I had a blast today!" She looked to Robbie Ray and said, "It was so neat!"

Robbie Ray said, "I got to watch some of it, and you did one heck of a job, Lola. And Hannah, you did great too. I'm proud of you two girls."

Miley said, "Oh, Daddy, did you get a chance to talk to Miriam about being a backup singer for me next month?"

Robbie Ray nodded. "Yeah, I'm gonna talk to her mom and dad sometime next week. If they give her the okay, I'll send out a contract for 'em to look over."

"Thanks, Daddy!" Miley said, giving him a hug. "Now I think it's time we got on the road," she then said, steering Lilly toward the exit.

Lilly was tired too. It had been a very long day, and the adrenaline was starting to wear off. Lilly could feel the crash building. She yawned and said, "Okay, let's hit the road, crew." Miley smiled at her comment as she took Lilly's hand and led her outside to the limousine. The girls climbed into the back section, immediately stretching out on the long leather bench seat.

Robbie Ray smiled as he closed the door for them. He figured they'd be asleep before he ever pulled out of the studio lot. He hadn't been entirely honest with Miley and Lilly tonight; he had actually watched quite a bit of the show, and he had been very, very impressed with how Lilly handled herself. Her time as Lola had given her enough exposure to the celebrity world to become fairly comfortable with it. That comfort zone and her own bright personality made for a powerful combination. He expected that before long, either Lilly or Miley—or both— would be asking him to manage a second career. When that occurred, he knew he'd be happy to say yes. After all, Lilly had always been like another daughter to him, and that was true even more so now.

The drive back home went quickly, and within a half hour they were back inside the parking garage. He opened the door, smiling at how Miley and Lilly were twisted together on the large back seat. Miley's head was resting on Lilly's shoulder, while Lilly had her right arm protectively wrapped around Miley's back, holding her tightly. He leaned in and gently shook Miley's leg. "Miley! Lilly!" he said, his voice slightly raised. "Let's go girls, time to change and switch cars." He heard Miley groan, then she rolled backward off the seat. Before she could fall, Lilly reflexively pulled her back against her, causing both girls to jump with a start.

"Nice save," Miley said sleepily. "My hero."

Lilly yawned in response. Once she was finished, she said, "Happy to save you, sweetheart."

Robbie Ray said, "Okay girls, get changed," then he closed the door so he could get changed himself. When he had finished, he tossed his suit into the Suburban. Shortly, Miley and Lilly climbed out of the limo, their bags in their arms. Robbie Ray took the bags and tossed them into the back of the Suburban, then he helped them into the back seats. Once they were ready, he started the car and left the garage. Soon enough, they had reached Lilly's house. "Lilly, darlin', we're at your house. Tell Miley good night, so I can get you inside."

Miley grumbled about not wanting to leave Lilly, but Lilly hushed her with a soft kiss. "We've spent the day together hon, and it _is_ a school night, remember?"

Miley still wasn't entirely happy. "Well, when we're married, then we won't have to be apart during the school week," she said with a sour look on her face.

"Awww, is my sweet little pookie upset?" Lilly said with a silly voice. "Does her miss her wuggums?"

Miley played along, sticking out her lower lip. "Yes, I do miss my wuggums when I don't get to snuggle up to her at night," she said with a pitiful voice.

Lilly laughed, unable to hold a straight face any longer. "You're so cute when you pout, Miley," she said. "Okay, time for me to get to bed." She kissed Miley good night, with the kiss starting gently then heating up. Before they let things get too far, Lilly pulled back. "Good night, Miley," she said, smiling at her lover.

"Good night, Lil," Miley said, reining in her passion for Lilly. "See you tomorrow, hon."

Lilly stepped out of the Suburban as she said, "Always," smiling at Miley. Robbie Ray walked around the car and escorted Lilly up to her door, where she produced her key and unlocked the door. "Thank you, Mr. Stewart," she said, giving him a good night hug.

"You're welcome, Lilly," Robbie Ray said. "And you did one heck of a job tonight, girl."

"Thanks," she said, waving as she stepped inside and closed and locked the door. She watched him get back into the vehicle and drive away, already missing Miley but sure that they needed to stay in their respective houses tonight, since it was a school night. Lilly walked into the den, plopping down on the couch as she said, "Hi Mom, Dad," to her parents, who were watching television.

"Hello Lilly," her mother said, while her dad said, "Evening sweetheart!" Her mother looked at Lilly and said, "Did you and Miley have fun tonight?"

Lilly hadn't told either of her parents any details about where she and Miley were going. Her father knew nothing of his daughter's double life as Lola Luftnagle, but Lilly and Miley had let Lilly's mother in on The Secret two months ago. Since then, she hadn't asked once about any details of what Hannah and Lola were up, but then, she really didn't need to, since the girls were all over the local news most of the time. By the look her mother was giving her, Lilly knew that she suspected that her daughter had been up to something exciting this evening. She tried to act as nonchalant as possible. "Yeah, we had a good time, Mom. Thanks for letting me go on a school night." As she spoke, Lilly remembered that she had an algebra quiz tomorrow. "Shoot, I need to go study for my algebra quiz!" she said, jumping up and running upstairs.

After studying for about thirty minutes, Lilly was beyond tired. She brushed her teeth, used the bathroom, put on one of Miley's long shirts, which she had taken for just such a purpose, turned off the light and crawled into bed. Before she fell asleep, she heard a knock on the door. "Yeah?" she said softly.

The door to her room cracked open, letting a shaft of light stab into the darkness covering the floor. "Lilly?" her mother said quietly.

"What is it, Mom?" Lilly asked, unsure of why her mother was there.

She stepped inside the door, closing it behind her. In the dark, she slowly walked over to Lilly's bed, then she put her hand down onto Lilly's forehead. "I was very proud of you tonight, Lilly," she said, a smile in her voice.

"What are you talking about, Mom?" Lilly asked, so tired she could barely think.

Her mother said, "I watched Hannah and Lola on _Singing With the Stars_ tonight. Needless to say, I was rather surprised, but you did so well."

Lilly couldn't help but smile as she said, "Thanks, Mom. Hannah gave a great performance, too, though."

"Yes, she did, but I do think that Lola will be the talk of the town tomorrow after the fabulous job she did."

Lilly wasn't sure about how she would feel about becoming more popular in her own right, but she did have to admit that it felt really good to have the opportunity to do so; it also felt good to be given a challenge and come through. Maybe there would be a career in show business for her. But honestly, Lilly was content to just be Hannah's companion, as long as she could be there with her. However, the more she thought about it, Lilly realized that while Miley would always accept her even if she did nothing but stay at home and take care of their house (and later their children), it would be nice to be a provider just like Miley was. That would truly make them partners in all things, rather than Miley be the sole breadwinner. Lilly liked the thought of being able to earn money on her own, to equally contribute to her and Miley's relationship in all ways.

She looked back up to where her mother was standing, his shape dimly visible in the dark. "Thanks, Mom. I love you."

Her mother bent down and gave Lilly a kiss on the forehead. "Good night, Lilly," she said. "And congratulations. I think that one day Lola will be a star in her own right."

Lilly grinned as her mother left the room, closing the door behind her. As she turned over in bed, she silently said good night to Miley, sending her love to her girlfriend mentally. She then quickly said her prayers, thankful for all she had been given, for the opportunities presented to her, and for her family and lover. As she drifted into sleep, she could swear that she felt a warmth on the back of her neck. _I bet that's Miley sending me her good night love_, Lilly thought with a smile, then she dismissed the notion as silly as she fell asleep.

When Miley got home, she was asleep again. Robbie Ray pulled the car into the driveway, then said, "We're home, bud," as he turned off the engine. Not getting any response, he turned and said, "Miley! We're home, darlin'." That got her to stir, though not too quickly.

"Alright, getting' up," Miley mumbled. She slowly sat up, groping her way to the door handle, since she hadn't opened her eyes yet. As she stepped outside, the cool air helped her wake up a bit, and she finally looked around. "Where's Lil?" she asked, as if in a daze.

"Bud, we dropped Lilly off at her house a few minutes ago. You gave her a good night kiss, and I walked her in while you went back to sleep."

"I did?" Miley said.

"Yup," Robbie Ray answered. "Now get inside, you need to get to bed. You've got school tomorrow."

Miley nodded as she yawned, then she turned and stumbled inside. As she walked in, she saw Jackson sitting on the couch, watching television as he talked on the phone. He turned to regard Miley and said into the phone, "Miley just walked in the door, so looks like she and Dad got back a bit late. I need to go, Kaela. See you tomorrow?" He smiled, then added, "Night!"

By the time he clicked the phone off, Miley had already made it to the stairs and was slowly climbing them. "Tell Kaela I said hello," she said sleepily.

"Can't do that, Miles, since I already hung up the phone," Jackson, smiling at his sister's delayed reaction. "Hi Dad!" he said as Robbie Ray walked in the door.

"Hey, Jackson," his father said. "You get the dishes done like I had asked you?"

"Yep," Jackson answered, "I sure did."

Robbie Ray was pleased with how Jackson had grown up over the last few months. It seems that Miley's romance with Lilly had triggered a spark inside her brother, making him realize just how important loving someone and being loved in return truly was. And Robbie Ray had to admit, he did like Jackson's girlfriend Kaela. She was sweet, smart, and she did seem to really care about Jackson. _Lord knows, that's hard to do sometimes,_ he thought. But for all Jackson's quirks, he was a good person. He had been brought up well, and he loved his family, no matter how many times he and Miley butted heads. While Robbie Ray suspected a little of that was jealously of his sister's celebrity, he knew that most of it was the simple conflict inherent to brothers and sisters, a perfect example of a love/hate relationship at the age his children were.

For her part, Miley had done very well recently of not rubbing anything in regarding Hannah's accomplishments and wealth. Indeed, since she and Lilly had gotten engaged, Miley had been very considerate of others, even more so than usual. That made Robbie Ray's decision to let her buy Lilly's birthday present easier. He still controlled access to Hannah's millions, and he followed it closely, knowing what a resource it was for his family. However, he had no illusions about whose money it truly was. When Miley was eighteen, she would gain full control over Hannah's fortune; all Robbie Ray wanted was for it to be enough to support her in whatever she and Lilly wanted. He knew that Miley would take care of all of her family, so he had no worries about his financial future. He had been paid enough by Hannah to establish his own financial portfolio independent of hers, and making money grow and last was a talent of his.

As Robbie Ray returned his focus to Jackson, he realized that his son had been speaking to him. "What'd you say, son?"

"I said, I called to double-check our room at the motel for Friday night. Everything's good," Jackson said. "Is your mind goin', old man?" he said playfully.

Robbie Ray grinned. "Nice job getting your chores done, Jackson. Now get yourself in bed. School's tomorrow," he said, patting Jackson on the back as he walked by.

Miley finished using the bathroom and brushing her teeth, shedding her clothes and getting into one of Lilly's t-shirts as she crawled into bed. She closed her eyes and said her prayers, thanking God for sending Lilly into her life and for everything she had blessed with. As she finished, she felt a warm feeling crawl up her back. She smiled as she thought, _I love you too, Lilly,_ sending the same warm love back to her girlfriend. _Sweet dreams, sweetheart._

**Author's Afterword:** These chapters are a bit trickier to work on, but I'm trying to stay on a twice a week schedule. Thanks for being patient, and thanks even more for reading! More from our heroines as soon as possible, I promise!

-- Jo --


	5. Chapter 5: Rising

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone for the nice reviews. A reader had a question about how exactly Kaela's name was pronounced. It's an alternate spelling of Kayla, pronounced exactly the same, KAY-lah. Apologies to all who have been confused about that. I also apologize for the two typos I caught in the last chapter after I had already posted it. I always proofread my chapters at least twice, but apparently I just missed those two. I promise I'll correct them and post the revised chapters over the weekend. Hope everyone is still enjoying our ride, because we've got a lot of miles to go! Please see Chapter 1 for my standard disclaimers!

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 5: Rising

_This is _

_How we'll dance when_

_When they try to take us down_

_This is how we'll sing out_

_This is _

_How we'll stand when_

_When they burn our houses down_

_This is what will be our glory_

_--_Paramore"Let the Flames Begin"

As the alarm clock went off, Miley stirred from her sleep, hitting the Snooze button and rolling back over in her bed. She felt cold, and when she reached for Lilly to pull her lover closer, she grasped only a sheet. Frustrated, Miley sat up, then she remembered that Lilly spent the night over at her parents' house last night, due to it being a school night. "No fun," Miley muttered, still a bit put out that her favorite cuddle partner wasn't there with her. She got up and went into the bathroom, starting the shower to get ready for school.

Miley went through her morning routine on autopilot, thinking about her upcoming weekend with Lilly. She hoped Lilly would understand that she couldn't give Lilly her birthday gift until next week, but she expected that Lilly would. She also expected Lilly would probably hold off on giving Miley her gift until then, too, so neither of them would get her gift before the other. It was really funny, now that Miley thought about it. She always used to roll her eyes at Christmas time when her parents would talk about it being "better to give than receive," but now Miley understood the meaning of that phrase. It meant more to Miley to see the look of happiness on Lilly's face than it did to get something herself.

As Miley left the bathroom, she stepped into her closet. The forecast for today was cool, which in Malibu meant it probably would be in the seventies. Another nice thing about living here was the pleasant weather year-round, although sometimes she missed the unpredictable nature of Tennessee weather, and in the winter she did miss seeing snow. Lilly had always lived in California, spending almost her whole life in Malibu. She couldn't remember if she had ever seen snow, so Miley was especially thrilled about the upcoming holidays. The Stewarts and Truscotts were going to have a joint Thanksgiving celebration, which was going to be neat, but Miley was really thrilled about Christmas. Lilly was going with them to Tennessee for a week, to spend Christmas with Miley's Mamaw Stewart and meet the rest of her family. Robbie Ray had already arranged for them to fly out on Hannah's jet and to return the same way, so they could fly back on Christmas Day in time to have Christmas evening with Lilly's family.

Returning her focus to the here and now, Miley grabbed a short-sleeved white t-shirt and a pair of jeans, putting on a dark green long-sleeved shirt and buttoning it almost all the way up, leaving just the top three buttons undone. The school tended to be much cooler than it was outside, and this way she was prepared. She had straightened her hair this morning, making it look even darker than it usually did. She wore it this way on occasion, and she just felt like it today. It tended to make her look a bit older than her nearly sixteen years, and right now Miley wished she was older, by two years exactly. _Waiting until we turn eighteen to get married is going to take forever, _she thought; now, she _could_ wait, and she knew Lilly could to, but it was still frustrating at times. Last night was a prime example. Maybe their parents would let them get married a bit early, rather than wait another two years. Maybe at seventeen. Miley smiled as she thought about that possibility. It would still be a long wait, but at least she and Lilly would be able to stay together sooner. _Why am I so anxious to get married? I mean, I know no one's going to come in and take Lilly away from me, and no one could ever take me from her. Is it really that I want us to be together whenever we want, or is there something more? _

Miley thought about that as she went downstairs and grabbed her backpack. Thankfully, she had studied for her algebra quiz while at school yesterday. She hoped that she'd do well on the test. Lilly tended to do better than her in math courses, but Miley had worked quite hard on improving her study skills these past two months. She hoped that when the time came for her to ask her father about letting them get married a bit earlier than eighteen, her improved grades would be an asset for her. Miley had cut out the occasional Cs and Ds, getting nothing but As and Bs over the past two months. True, she had bombed that one Biology quiz, but she done well enough on all the others that she had been allowed to pick that particular grade as the one to drop, so it hadn't hurt her grade at all. Lilly had likewise gotten more serious about her grades, bringing up her English and Biology grades sharply. Nothing like a goal to get someone studying, especially when that goal was as powerful as making their future together come sooner rather than later.

She yelled, "I'm off to school!" as she went out the door. Her dad was probably still upstairs, but Miley wanted to make sure she met Lilly in time to walk to school together. As she thought of her girlfriend, Lilly appeared around the curve between their houses, riding her skateboard toward Miley's house. Miley smiled and waved as Lilly did the same, kicking to build up speed. Within less than a minute, the two met; Lilly hopped off her skateboard, letting it coast into the grass where she knew it would stop as she and Miley embraced and kissed.

"Missed you last night," Lilly said.

"Oh sweetheart, I really missed you, too," Miley replied. "I reached over for you this morning and you weren't there."

"Aw," Lilly said, looking sad, "I'm sorry, Miley. But we can make it through this."

"Two years is going to be an eternity," Miley sighed. "I mean, I know we _can_ wait for each other, but why should we have to? My dad knows we're going to be together, your parents know we're going to be together, so why can't they just let us be together, married or not?'

Lilly's expression turned serious as she walked over and picked up her skateboard, threading it through the straps on her backpack and starting to walk beside Miley. "It's more than just being married, Miley. It's the process of _getting_ married. And part of that means waiting while we're engaged. It's like a test, of our patience and our commitment to each other."

"But we _are_ committed to each other!" Miley said, a bit louder than she had intended. "I will never, ever be with anyone other than you, Lilly."

"Just like I would never be with anyone other than you, Miley, no matter what, but it's not about our commitment to each other, not like that. We know that's solid. It's about showing to everyone else that we're committed and secure enough in each other to wait. Plus, there's the whole maturity issue." Miley gave Lilly a Look at that statement. Unfazed by the Look, Lilly said, "Oh no, Stewart, don't you give me that Look. I'm not saying you're immature, because you are very mature for sixteen. You've had to be. I'm pretty mature for my age, too, but we still have some more growing up to do."

Miley dropped the Look, because she knew Lilly was right. "You're right, Lilly, I just really don't like these nights where we have to be apart."

"But Miley, don't those nights make the weekends when we can be together so much sweeter?" Lilly said, grinning. "I know I positively am jumping for joy when Friday rolls around, because I know we get to be together for two days and nights." She gave Miley a pat on her butt as she spoke, getting a grin out of her girlfriend.

"When did you get so smart about relationships, Ms. Truscott?" Miley asked, impressed with her girlfriend's insight.

"When I started dating you, Ms. Stewart," Lilly coyly replied. "I've been thinking about all this myself, hon, and I've asked Mom and Dad about some of this stuff, too. They've been together almost twenty-three years, and I figure we might as well benefit from some of their experience. If it can save us from making a single mistake that would hurt one of us, it's worth asking questions."

Miley stopped walking and grabbed Lilly, hugging her tightly. "You are so dear, and so thoughtful, and so sweet, Lilly. I love you," she said, fighting back tears of happiness.

For her part, Lilly hugged Miley back once the surprise wore off. "It's easy to be sweet to you, Miley, because I love you, too," Lilly said, smiling brightly.

After several seconds of holding each other, they separated, holding hands as they resumed the walk to school. "I just want to do everything I can to make our relationship as close to perfect as we can get it," Lilly said as they approached the school.

"Same here, hon, but we're probably going to have times when we argue or when things aren't going real well," Miley said. She hated to say anything negative, but sometimes things like that needed to be said.

Lilly didn't get upset at all, nor did she try to disagree with Miley. She said, "You're right, Miley, we _are_ going to have some times when we fight or argue, but any couple is going to do that. What matters is how we do it. As long we respect each other and remember that we love each other, we can get past it." She bumped hips with Miley as she said, "I seem to remember us having some ugly fights before, don't you? We got through all them, and that was before we were engaged. Heck, that was before we'd even admitted that we were in love!"

Miley laughed. "Yeah, if we could deal with those blowups then, I suppose we can deal with anything that might come now that we're together forever."

Lilly turned and looked at Miley as they walked into the school. "Together forever. I like the sound of that, Ms. Stewart."

"So do I, Lil," Miley said. "So do I."

School went uneventfully until lunch. As Miley and Lilly sat down to eat, they were joined by Oliver. "Hey Miley, Lilly," he said. As they all pulled in closer to the table, he said more quietly, "Nice job yesterday, both of you. I was totally impressed."

Lilly and Miley both smiled. "Thank you," said Lilly, genuinely pleased for the compliment. Miley also said, "Thanks Oliver," smiling.

Oliver then excitedly said, "By the way, I got a date for our big group date tomorrow night!"

"Oh really?" asked Miley, interested in who would be joining her and Lilly, Jackson and Kaela, and Oliver.

"Lindsey Hall," Oliver said. "You know, that girl who was all over me in the lunchroom last week?"

Lilly said, "Didn't she slip on something and fall on top of you?" At Oliver's chastising look, Lilly added, "Hey, that's what I heard!"

Oliver held his glare at Lilly as he said, "Regardless of the cause of our meeting, my charm quickly swept her off her feet."

Miley waved her fork as she said, "Well, I heard that you tripped her when you got your backpack between her feet, and that's how she got 'swept off her feet'."

"Lies!" Oliver said, with a thick German accent. "I tell you, zey are lies!" Miley and Lilly both giggled at that, getting him to break character and smile as well. "Anyway, I asked her if she wanted to go to a movie and go bowling with us, and she said she'd love to!"

Lilly hugged Oliver quickly. "That's great, Oliver! I'm sure she'll have a great time with all of us!"

Miley nodded her head, her mouth full of salad. As she swallowed, she said, "Yeah, what she said," pointing her fork at Lilly.

Before anything further could be said, Amber and Ashley walked into the lunchroom, flanked by several male students carrying stacks of papers. Amber loudly said, "Time for this semester's Cool List!" which stirred most of the lunchroom into a frenzy. Each semester Amber and Ashley put out a ranking of the students, ordered in terms of which students the two of them felt were the coolest. Naturally, the top two spots were a tie between the two of them. And for every list so far, the bottom two spots had been reserved for Miley and Lilly.

"Great," muttered Lilly. "Another update from the delusional duo."

Milly leaned over and whispered, "Well, look on the bright side, Lilly. They can't rank us any lower than they have in the past."

Lilly considered that and said, "Hey, you're right Miles!" She cheered up considerably at that thought.

Oliver said, "Well, I hope I get to move up a few spots this year. I might break the top 80 by junior year."

Miley looked at him with annoyance. "Please don't tell me you actually care about what those two dimwits think!"

This time it was Lilly who waved her fork for emphasis. "Actually, Miley, I'm not sure they _can_ think." Miley tilted her chin, silently acknowledging Lilly's pertinent comment.

Miley saw Amber and Ashley out of the corner of her eye, now standing behind them. She figured they were there to gloat over how "uncool" she and Lilly were, particularly since they had come out as a couple. She turned around to regard the two of them as she said, "Oh, it's you two. I _thought_ I smelled imitation Chanel."

Ashley looked shocked as she loudly said, "Imitation? Why you--" She was cut off by Amber's hand thumping against her chest, a bit more forcefully than Amber intended.

Amber looked over at Ashley's surprised face and said, "Oops, sorry Ash." Then she turned back to the three at the table, regarding them all with a cool gaze. "Well, well. If it isn't our semi-permanent owners of the Cool List's bottom spots. Is there any way your pitiful selves could get any more pathetic?" She paused, obviously waiting on Ashley to say something. When nothing was forthcoming, she turned to Ashley and loudly hissed, "Ash!"

Ashley jumped, then said, "Oh yeah! You two are so uncool that you decided the only way you could get anyone to like either of you was to start sleeping with each other!" Amber nodded as an evil grin stretched across her face.

At that comment, Miley pushed her chair back and stood up. "Okay, THAT was taking it a bit too far," she said, her voice dangerously low. "Nobody talks that way about my girl, especially you two superficial sluts."

Lilly almost reached out and grasped Miley's arm to warn her that things could escalate to dangerous levels if she continued. Almost. But Amber and Ashley had both had this coming for a long time.

Miley continued, "To start off, we could care less about your dumb ol' list. It's just one pathetic way you try to make sure everyone thinks of you two as 'cool', when really everyone is laughing at you behind your backs. Most of them are just too afraid of you to laugh in your faces. Second, if you think we started sleeping with each other because of your list, you're giving yourselves way too much credit. We started sleeping with each other because we fell in love, and when I'm in Lilly's arms, I know I'm safe, loved and happy." Miley took a slow step towards Amber and Ashley, causing them to each to take a cautious step back as she continued. "I'm not afraid to say that Lilly makes me happier than anything in my life ever has, and when we make love, I know that's the closest I'll come to Heaven while I'm alive!" She took another step forward, causing her two enemies to bump into each other as they continued to retreat. "I actually feel sorry for you two, because you're too selfish to open yourselves up to being loved in a way like Lilly and I have, and I'm not talking about us both being girls. I'm talking about having someone who loves you enough that you can trust her with your biggest secrets, your wants, your needs, your life! I can do that with Lilly, because I know that no matter what happens, she will always be there for me, just like I'll always be there for her."

Lilly stood, taking two steps forward to stand behind Miley, who extended her left hand backwards for Lilly to take and hold. However, Lilly didn't say anything, because nothing further needed to be added to Miley's powerful statements, which had the entire lunchroom spellbound by this point.

Miley's face was flushed from the outrage building inside her, but she kept her self-control as she finished. "If you want to really see who the most pathetic girls in the school are, just walk in the bathroom and look in your precious mirrors. You have to print out lists telling everyone how cool you are to try and convince them that you're special. How sad is _that_?" She took another step forward as Lilly followed her, still holding her hand in support as Amber and Ashley retreated yet again. "Maybe if you spent less time trying to convince everyone that you're better than they are and spent more time listening to your heart, you could finally be happy just being yourselves like we are." She paused, and the silence was so profound that it seemed as if time itself had stopped until she spoke again. "In three years, when all of us are out of high school, no one is going to care about the two of you and your little social games, because ninety-five percent of us won't ever see you again. Your time to be important will be over, and what'll you have when high school's over?" She paused again, daring them to say anything. When they didn't speak, she screamed, "NOTHING!" She turned to look at Lilly, and the anger on her face was instantly replaced by a smile so warm, so loving that Lilly couldn't help but smile in return.

"I love you," Lilly said softly to Miley. It was a whisper, but it resounded throughout the silence filling the lunchroom.

Miley whispered back, "I love you too, beautiful," and the glow on her face reflected the truth in her simple statement. Then she whirled back around to once again look at Amber and Ashley. "I, on the other hand," she said in a voice now more calm and controlled, "will have someone to share the rest of my life with. Someone who will be there when I wake up and when I go to bed. Someone when times are good, and when times are hard. Someone I can trust with anything, including my life, because I've already entrusted her with my future. Someone who loves me for who I am, not for what everyone else thinks of me."

At that moment, Lilly wondered if Miley was going to reveal THE secret. If she did, then Lilly would support her, because the impact of that revelation would certainly bury Amber and Ashley, particularly given how much Amber adored Hannah Montana. But she expected Miley would continue to keep that secret, to safeguard their privacy. Amber and Ashley just simply weren't worth the trouble that would follow. She stepped forward, standing just behind Miley as she said to Amber and Ashley, "She knows what I think of her." She looked at Miley and said, "I think she's amazing. She's smart, funny, beautiful, honest, caring, and more talented that either of you will ever know. And I know that my heart and my future are safe with her, just like hers are safe with me." She squeezed Miley's hand, communicating her love silently as well as with her words.

Miley smiled back at Lilly, no need for words to say how much she loved her right now, as that much was evident just in the way she looked at her partner. She turned back to Amber and Ashley, who looked like they were about to either pass out or run away. In a much colder voice, Miley said, "So if anyone in this school thinks that Lilly and I lose sleep over this stupid list, let me make this crystal clear. We don't lose sleep over anything except making love, and that's worth losing some sleep for!" She snatched a copy of the Cool List out of Amber's hands and started slowly tearing off the pages, tossing them onto the floor at their feet. "So you can take your sorry little list, and your sorry little attitude, and your sorry little lives, and go jump in the ocean, because we don't give a _fuck_ what you do!"

There might have been applause if everyone in the lunchroom hadn't been totally stunned by what was happening. As it were, no applause was needed, because the silence spoke loudly enough. Lilly captured the meaning of the silence exactly when she said, "And if everyone here weren't in complete shock right now, I can guarantee you that everyone in this school would be cheering my partner for putting you two shallow bitches in your places!" At that statement, a few people started clapping, led first by Oliver, then Sarah, then Dandruff Danny. Others started to join in, then even more, until the thunderous applause reverberated from one wall to the other. Miley turned to look at Lilly, then the two of them turned their backs on Amber and Ashley and sat back down to the cheers of most of the school. No teacher came to their table to chastise them for disrupting lunch, nor did anyone reprimand Miley for using profanity while at school. In fact, no one said anything about what had just occurred during the remainder of lunch. Simply put, nothing further needed to be said.

When Miley got into her World History class for fifth period, she noticed several students giving her friendly glances as she walked to the seat. As soon as she sat down, she heard a voice behind her say, "Hey Stewart!" She turned around, preparing herself for whatever Jen Kittrell planned on throwing her way. However, she was thoroughly unprepared for what Jen had to say this time.

"Nice job, Stewart," Jen said. "About time someone in your class had the guts to put those two tramps in their places. Although to tell you the truth, I figured your girlfriend would have been the one to finally snap and let 'em have it."

Miley sat there for a second or two before she had the presence of mind to say, "Uh, thanks Jen. I think."

Jen laughed, an occurrence even more rare than her smiling. At that very unusual sound, several students turned, looking to see what misfortune had befallen someone to make Jen laugh at them. Not finding anything appropriately gruesome, they quickly turned back around. Jen raised her voice and replied, "Hey, it's not like someone has to break a limb for me to laugh!" No one dared to reply to her statement.

Jen turned back to Miley and said, "Anyway, I mean it, Stewart. Nice job. I was sort of hoping you'd go all the way and knock the hell out of one of 'em, but I think you got your point across anyway." She paused, then she said, "I assume you and your girlfriend are gonna be at the game tonight?"

Miley nodded her head, saying, "Wouldn't miss it for anything," quickly.

Jen smiled back at her and said, "Good. Those Thousand Oaks bitches won't know what hit 'em. See you tonight, then."

Miley nodded again, then turned back around as the teacher came into the room and closed the door. It took Miley a few minutes to collect her thoughts, as that was the longest conversation she had ever seen anyone have with Jen that didn't result in a suspension for at least one party. When she had collected herself enough to open her textbook, she realized someone had dropped a note on her desk. She glanced at it, then nonchalantly flipped it over. _No name. That could be either good or bad. Probably bad. _She slowly, patiently opened the note, trying to not be too obvious as the teacher lectured about the Holy Roman Empire. When she finally got the note open, she was surprised by its brevity, as well as by its actual content.

_Great job shutting A&A up_

_There are lots of us on your side!_

Miley quietly folded the note and placed it deep in her textbook to show to Lilly after school. While she appreciated the positive statement, it still bothered her that Amber and Ashley's influence on her class was so strong that the note's author wouldn't even put his or her name on the note out of fear of reprisal. Miley guessed that it was a girl who had written it based on the handwriting, but that was still just a guess. _Well, at least it's not a death threat_, she thought.

When school was over, she and Lilly met up out front, walking until they were just off the school campus then kissing each other passionately. Their display of affection got several whistles and a few lewd comments from other students, who knew the girls' daily end-of-school ritual, but Miley and Lilly could care less. They were only into each other at that moment, and they needed the intimate contact, the chance to again express their love for each other in a physical way. When they broke the kiss, smiling at each other, they became aware of the catcalls coming from different places around them. They laughed, knowing that any couple who kissed outside the school like they did got treated the same; Miley and Lilly took it as a sign of social acceptance of their relationship, which it was, in a high-schoolish way.

As they started walking for their homes, Miley said, "What time is the game tonight? Seven?"

Lilly nodded. "Yeah, and I have to be there at six-fifteen, as usual."

Miley didn't offer her opinion on how dumb an idea that was. After the fourth or fifth time, she realized that her griping wasn't going to change the fact that the coach was going to do it. No point wasting her breath.

As if reading her mind, Lilly looked at Miley and said, "Those lips of yours could be used for something much more productive than complaining about me having to be there so early."

Miley whirled her head to the right to look at Lilly. "What did you say?" she asked incredulously.

Lilly grinned. "You heard me, Stewart. I wonder what I'm thinking of you using those lips and that tongue for..."

Miley nearly dropped her backpack at Lilly's brazen statement. "I think you're a bit horny, Lilly!" she said, trying not to laugh until she could tell if Lilly was joking or being serious. Right now, Lilly's words were definitely having an effect on her, as she could feel sweat start to bead on her back and her palms.

Lilly looked back at Miley and said, "Could be..." in a very suggestive manner. She then reached over and pinched Miley's butt, getting her lover to squeal and jump forward.

"Lilly Truscott!" Miley said, amazed at how bold her lover was being. She glanced behind them and took note of a handful of students walking the same direction, although they were over a block behind them. "There are people walking behind us!" she hissed.

However, Lilly remained unfazed by Miley's observation. "I guess they'll have a good view of me grabbing your butt then, won't they?" she said, as she proceeded to do exactly that, running her left hand across Miley's left buttock, settling her hand in Miley's left rear pocket.

Miley started to protest a bit more, but she realized that she shouldn't be embarrassed about Lilly showing her love for Miley in public. Plus, the feel of Lilly's hand on her rear was doing all sorts of things to her insides. Good things. "Walk faster," she said to Lilly.

Lilly turned to look at Miley, but her hand remained in Miley's pocket. "What did you say, Miles?" she said, not sure she heard Miley correctly.

Miley said, "I said, walk faster. If we hurry, we can beat your mom and dad home and still have time to spare." She turned to look at Lilly, liking the look of happiness on Lilly's face. She added, "Hey, your house is closer anyway," getting a giggle out of Lilly.

The girls did indeed walk faster, and they got to Lilly's house with about thirty minutes left before Lilly's mom typically got home. As soon as they were inside the house, Miley slammed the door and locked it, as Lilly dropped her backpack and skateboard, then dashed up the stairs. Miley threw her backpack down on top of Lilly's, then she ran up the stairs as fast as she possibly could, nearly falling when she took three steps instead the two she was planning near the top of the stairs.

As Miley ran into Lilly's room, she saw that Lilly had already stripped off her shoes, socks, shirt and was stepping out of her pants, kicking them across the room. Miley locked the door behind her, then she hurriedly took off her two shirts at the same time, kicking her shoes off while she was pulling the shirts over her head. A quick unbutton and unzip later, and her pants were on top of Lilly's, neatly mirroring what was about to happen between the girls themselves. She reached down for her socks when Lilly said, "Screw the socks Miley, get your butt over here!" holding the covers up for Miley to slide in beside her. Miley grinned as she forgot about the socks and jumped into the bed, where she was immediately swept up in Lilly's heated embrace. The girls hurriedly disposed of the rest of their clothing blindly, kissing and touching each other passionately. Even though time was short, they found more than enough time to give each other the joy and the release of tension they were both wanting so desperately. As they cooled down after their intense lovemaking, they continued to kiss softly as they let their hands roam further, stirring a second round which reached its climax even more quickly than the first. As they both rolled onto their backs, hearts pounding and sweat dripping, Miley softly said, "Sweet niblets, that was great."

Lilly spoke in a voice just as fatigued as she said, "Oh yeah. Beyond amazing. It was like, I just had to have you, Miley. I hope I didn't embarrass you when we were walking, it was just—I mean, I HAD to have you." She turned to look at Miley, who likewise rolled over to face Lilly. Lilly ran her left hand across Miley's right ribs, getting a grin from her girlfriend as she said, "It's a good thing you can walk fast, girlfriend."

Miley laughed, the sound like music to Lilly's ears. "You didn't embarrass me, sweetheart, but you did surprise me quite a bit. You're not normally quite so... forward."

Lilly blushed slightly. "Sorry," she said softly.

Miley leaned over and kissed Lilly, on the nose this time, getting a smile from Lilly. "Don't. Ever. Apologize. For loving me." She stared Lilly in the eyes, trying to convey she was serious. "I'm not ever going to apologize for loving you, so don't you ever do it either. And if you decide you want to get grabby, well, then I'll deal with it."

Lilly said, "Bold words, since we're going to see your family for Christmas." Mischief danced in her eyes as she looked at Miley.

Miley knew that Lilly wouldn't deliberately embarrass her with her family, but there was a bit of concern as to how the rest of her family would deal with their relationship. Three members of her family Miley considered as locks to support them: Aunt Dolly, Mamaw Stewart and, oddly enough, Uncle Earl. Her aunt Dolly had already met Lilly and thought very highly of her. In fact, the more Miley thought back on Dolly's talk with her about being in love with someone, the more Miley suspected that Dolly was talking about Lilly as the object of Miley's affection. If that were true, then Aunt Dolly had certainly seen things more clearly than Miley had ever realized. As for her grandmother, Mamaw Stewart had always been a woman who considered all sides to a story rather than to jump to a conclusion, and Miley had heard her defend one of her friend's gay son on multiple occasions. Miley also suspected that her father had already told Mamaw about her and Lilly, because the last time Miley had talked to her, she had inquired about whether or not she needed to save a place for Lilly at the table this year. When Miley had said yes, her grandma had sounded very pleased. As for Uncle Earl, he was one of the most easy-going people Miley had ever known. To Earl, family was family, to be loved and supported even if you didn't have a clue what they were thinking. If Robbie Ray and Dolly were on board supporting the girls, then Earl would make it three for three.

Seeing her girlfriend's thoughts drift on a tangent, Lilly said, "Miley? Hellooooo, Earth to Miley." Only when she tickled her ribs did she get a reaction from Miley, a gasp and a giggle as Miley focused back in on her lover's eyes. "Whatcha thinking about?" Lilly asked pleasantly.

Miley smiled and said, "Just about how happy my Mamaw and my Aunt Dolly are going to be when they hear about us being engaged." That put a grin on Lilly's face, and she scooted closer and nuzzled her face against Miley's neck. "Stop it!" Miley said playfully, but she certainly didn't make any effort to actually halt Lilly's action. Instead, she leaned her head back to expose more of her lovely neck to Lilly's kisses.

Just then a knock on the bedroom made both girls jump nearly out of their skins. "Lilly! Are you in there sweetheart?" her mom asked cheerfully.

"Yes, Mom!" Lilly yelled, exasperated. "You scared us to death!" she said.

"Oh, is Miley with you?" her mother asked. "I thought I saw her backpack downstairs when I came in. Are you two having some private time?" she asked sweetly.

Lilly and Miley both ducked their heads under the covers. "What was that you were saying about not being embarrassed about us being in love and showing it?" Lilly hissed at Miley.

Miley hissed right back, "Well, that was before your mom caught us in bed together for the _second_ time." While she and Lilly had always shared a bed whenever they spent the night together, only recently had Lilly's mom walked in on them in bed while they were truly making out. That had happened a few weeks ago, when the girls had taken a study break and decided to relieve some tension the physical way. After they had finished, they had lingered in the bed, still making out when Lilly's mother had walked in with a basket of their laundry. Thankfully, the girls were covered up to their shoulders, but it was still quite a shock for all parties involved.

Lilly popped her head above the covers and answered, "Yes Mom, we're having some private time. Did you need something?"

Her mother's voice came through the door, only slightly muffled. "Well, I was just wondering if you remembered your soccer game tonight, dear."

Lilly sighed. "Yes Mom, I remember. There's still over an hour before I have to be there."

Miley tried her best not to laugh at how Lilly's mother tried to be helpful. Miley thought it was sweet, while Lilly thought it was smothering. Miley also suspected that if the parent in question was hers, the perceptions would be reversed. Still, Lilly's mom _was_ a very sweet person; Miley was pretty sure where Lilly's gentle, compassionate side came from. "Thank you, Mrs. Truscott!" Miley called out, getting a poke in the ribs from Lilly. Speaking much more softly, Miley said to Lilly, "She's just being sweet!"

"She's being aggravating," Lilly countered. "At least this time we remembered to lock the door," she muttered.

"True," Miley helpfully added. "Anyway Lilly, it's not a big secret anymore that we're having sex."

"I know," Lilly said, "but as teenagers we have a code of conduct to uphold. We're supposed to by sneaky if we want to fool around, and our parents are supposed to get embarrassed when they catch us."

Lilly's serious manner made Miley laugh happily. "A code of conduct, huh?" she asked, still laughing.

"Well, what else are you gonna call it?" argued Lilly.

Miley had nothing to volunteer, so she just shrugged her shoulders, getting tickled again for her response. "Hey!" she squealed. "Watch where you put your hands!"

Lilly shifted positions to try for a better grip, making the bed squeak as her weight shifted closer to Miley. "Okay Stewart, I'm gonna make you squirm all over this bed!"

"Big words, Truscott! You got the skills to back that up?" Miley countered.

Lilly was getting into the game now, and she yelled, "Oh yeah! You ready to start screaming my name, Miley?" Immediately after her statement, the loud thump of a laundry basket hitting the floor registered in the girls' ears. That thump was followed just two seconds later by another, louder thump outside the bedroom door.

The girls froze. "Mom?" Lilly called out. "Are you still out there?"

Miley yelled, a bit louder, "Mrs. Truscott!" She turned to look at Lilly. "I think she passed out," she said, fear in her voice. "But why would she pass out? We were just tickling each other," Miley said, oblivious to how their banter had sounded to someone who couldn't see exactly what they were doing while they were talking.

Lilly got out of the bed and quickly put on her bra. Miley reached over and did the clasp on Lilly's bra as Lilly stepped into her panties. Miley then followed suit, getting her underwear on as Lilly opened the door. Sure enough, her mom had passed out, but thankfully she had fallen forward into the laundry basket, which had cushioned her fall. Lilly shook her mother, turning her head to the side. "Mom? Mom?" she said, gently shaking her.

Miley knelt down and checked Lilly's mom. "She's breathing just fine. Something must have really shocked her."

Lilly said, "I wonder what it was?" Miley shook her head, equally clueless at the moment.

The girls got Mrs. Truscott into a more comfortable position, putting a sweater under her head for support. After a few minutes, she started to come to. Miley and Lilly had gotten dressed at that point, and they were quite concerned about how she was feeling. "Are you okay, Mrs. Truscott?" Miley asked, dabbing her future mother-in-law's head with a damp washcloth. "You just fainted dead away. It gave Lilly and me a good scare."

"What happened, Mom?" Lilly asked. "It sounded like you just passed out with no reason." She looked around, as if looking for clues. "I mean, one second we're having a tickle fight, then it's just WHAM! You hit the ground."

Mrs. Truscott looked confused. "You were... tickling each other? But the way you were talking, I thought you were... you know, doing something else."

Lilly and Miley turned to look at each other, both realizing just how their talk must have sounded. "Oh," Miley said. Lilly's mouth just hung open, nothing coming out. Miley jumped to her aid, saying, "Mrs. Truscott, we swear we weren't making love then. We were just playing around. I mean, we were just tickling each other. We had already finished mak--" As she stopped talking, she turned a lovely shade of red, making Lilly sputter as she laughed at Miley's misspoken words. "Sweet blushing niblets," Miley muttered.

That comment got Mrs. Truscott to laugh, and her laughter slowly eased the embarrassed tension that had just grown between the three of them. "So just then, at the end, you two weren't..." Miley and Lilly shook their heads in unison. "Well, maybe I should be the one who's embarrassed, then," Mrs. Truscott said.

"Oh, I think there's enough embarrassment to go around," Lilly said, still laughing. "And Mom, we _do_ try to be discreet about when we're making love."

Her mother flushed slightly at Lilly's statement, but she composed herself and smiled as she said, "Thank you, dear. And thank you too, Miley. Even after you two are married, I expect something like that will still embarrass me."

Miley laughed, saying, "Well, I know it'll sure as heck still embarrass me." She turned to Lilly and pulled her lover close, though, then she said, "But I'm not embarrassed that I love her. I never could be embarrassed about that."

"No, just about getting caught saying dirty things!" Lilly said, tickling Miley's ribs then running down the stairs, Miley in hot pursuit as she yelled, "You are _so_ getting it when I catch you, Truscott!"

Left alone with her basket of laundry, Mrs. Truscott simply said, "Teenagers," then she carried the basket into the girls' bedroom, setting it lightly on the bed then walking out of the room, turning off the light behind her. But before she left the room, her eyes fell on a picture of Lilly and Miley kissing on the beach. They were wearing their swimsuits, and whoever had taken the picture had captured the setting sun in the background, its melon pink light casting a lovely tint across the picture. She picked up the picture to look at it more closely. She smiled at the love so obvious in that picture, and she recognized that a love as strong as that between Miley and Lilly was a precious gift. She cast her eyes to the heavens for just a second, then she closed them as she lowered her head and softy prayed, "Thank you for bringing those two girls together. Their love for each other is inspiring, and I know that my daughter will be loved and taken care of for the rest of her life. I can handle the occasional embarrassment, just as long as nothing ever breaks them apart." But even as she said her prayer, she knew that nothing could break them apart. And that was how it should be.

**Author's Afterword:** I know, I know, I didn't use a Hannah/Miley verse to start the chapter, but while I was proofing this chapter yesterday, "Let the Flames Begin" came on, and it just sounded right. Also, there's the very real problem of only having a finite number of Hannah/Miley songs to pull lyrics from. So if I slip every now and then, be merciful. Sorry about it taking four days instead of three for this chapter, but another wild week at work surfaced. Next chapter, the last game of the soccer season, plus Friday's group date and the girls' romantic night alone!

-- Jo --


	6. Chapter 6: Standing Up

**Author's Note:** Hope everyone is continuing to enjoy the story. The girls' birthdays are fast approaching, with Thanksgiving right behind them. Then we get the really fun stuff! Thanks for the very nice reviews, and I hope everyone continues to follow our heroines through the rest of their story. Please see Chapter 1 for my standard disclaimers!

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 6: Standing Up

_Let go_

_Don't hold on_

_To all of life's hardest parts_

_When we think of stopping_

_Let's keep on rocking_

_To the rhythm of our hearts_

_--_Miley Cyrus"Good and Broken"

Miley ran down the stairs at her house, yelling, "We have to go, or we're gonna be late!" The soccer game started in fifteen minutes, and there was no way Miley was going to miss any of it. This was the last game of the regular season and if Seaview won, they'd be playing for the district championship. Reaching the door, Miley put on her sweater and again yelled, "I'm going out to the car!"

"I'm comin', bud. Lands' sakes!" said her father, Robbie Ray, right behind her. "You don't have to yell quite so loud, Miles."

Miley opened the door and took off outside, saying, "Sorry!" over her shoulder as she ran to the car. As she reached the Suburban, she stopped and turned around. A pretty smile appeared on her face, very different from the scowl she had worn when yelling just seconds ago. "Daddy?" she asked sweetly.

"Yeah, Miles?"

"Will you let me drive there?" she asked. She had been practicing for the last six months, but she hadn't done nearly as much driving at night. She really did need the practice, and her sixteenth birthday was coming up in just five days.

Robbie Ray considered his decision for a minute. He realized that she did need the practice with night driving and he'd be with her, as he always was for her practicing. "Okay bud, let's go," he said, handing her the keys and walking around to the passenger side. As he sat down in the passenger seat, he noted how odd it still felt to be on this particular side of the car.

Miley grinned as she climbed up into the driver's seat of the Suburban. She put on her seat belt, started the engine, and checked behind her before she backed out the driveway. She shifted into Drive and smoothly drove to the school. She had been practicing quite seriously, because she was already tired of hearing Jackson's "woman driver" comments. If she ever did have even a minor accident, she'd hear about it for months, if not years. Plus, she and Lilly would be together most of the time, and carrying the most precious cargo she possessed made Miley want to be very safe.

As they made it to the school, just barely on time, Miley pulled up to the gate, then said to her dad, "I'm going on in Daddy, so Lilly won't be worried! Thanks for parking the car for me!" She kissed him on the cheek, then hopped out of the vehicle. By the time Robbie Ray could say anything, she was already running inside, showing her student ID to the teachers at the gate as she hurried past. He chuckled at her eagerness to be there for every minute of Lilly's game, then he shifted seats to park the car.

Miley ran to the sidelines, spotting Lilly as the girls were breaking their huddle and going to their positions. As Miley ran toward the field, Lilly looked up and saw her. As soon as Lilly saw her girlfriend hurrying toward her, her face lit up with a smile bright enough to dazzle anyone. She waved to Miley, then blew her a kiss as she jogged backwards toward the circle at midfield.

Miley waved and blew a kiss back to Lilly, then she yelled, "Love you, Lilly! Score some goals!" When Lilly gave her a mock salute, Miley grinned. Miley also noticed that Lilly and Jen were playing forwards again. Jackson's girlfriend Kaela Davis was playing center midfield, her spot for the last four games. Once Kaela had gotten used to the game and her teammates, her natural athletic ability had blossomed. Combined with her height, her speed and agility made her a very dangerous player, particularly on corner kicks. She was currently the third-best goal scorer on the team, posting six goals on the year with five of them coming on corners. Lilly was second with twelve, and Jen Kittrell led the team with sixteen, averaging nearly a goal a game.

As Thousand Oaks took the kickoff, Jen charged at the ball, knocking it away from their forwards deep into Thousand Oaks' side of the field. Miley smiled as Lilly veered after the ball, trailing it then setting up to play the pass forward as Jen charged to the left, intent on stealing any pass. Jen had the personality of a barracuda, but there was no denying she was an outstanding soccer player. She had already been contacted by both UCLA and USC with scholarship offers, and she had no intention of leaving high school without a district championship, something Seaview had never won.

"Hey Miles," said Oliver, as he walked up beside her at the sideline fence.

She turned to look at Oliver, smiling as she saw him. "Hey Oliver," she said pleasantly. "Sorry I was running late. I barely made it here before kickoff."

Oliver nodded as he said, "No worries." He turned to watch the game, just in time to see Lilly narrowly miss stealing a ball. Miley started to cheer Lilly's effort when Jen intercepted the pass made by the player trying to avoid Lilly. Instantly, Lilly cut to the center of field and ran to the goal. Jen took the ball wide to the left as Seaview's midfielders came forward as well, trailing Lilly's charge. Jen sent a hard, low pass across the goal box, aiming for Lilly. Oaks' sweeper had played further back, apparently anticipating a high, slow cross, and she was in no position to intercept the pass. Lilly raced forward and slid, getting her right foot on the ball and sending it toward the goal with blistering speed. The goalkeeper dove, but she was too late, missing the ball as it skipped into the back of the net, just inside the post.

The stands cheered at the excellent play, and Miley and Oliver both cheered loudly as well. Jen came over to help Lilly up, then pushed her toward the sideline. Lilly was already running in that direction as Jen propelled her forward, and seconds later she was at Miley. As they met leaning over the fence, Miley placed her hands on each side of Lilly's head and pulled her close for a warm, lingering kiss. After several prolonged seconds of pleasure, the girls parted, both wanting more but knowing it would have to wait. "Love you," said Miley. "You're playing great," she added with a smile.

Lilly grinned as she said, "Love you too, and thanks. You look really good, lover." She turned and ran back to the center of the field as the game kicked off again.

The student section was still cheering loudly, as they had done for several games whenever Miley and Lilly kissed after Lilly scored a goal. It had become a student tradition, and Miley turned and waved for everyone to tone down the cheering, as she usually did. She turned back around to resume watching the game when Oliver said, "It's kind of funny, you know."

Miley turned to look at him as she said, "What is?"

Oliver said, "Even here, everyone cheers for you, Miley. It's one of your gifts." He gave her a friendly hug as he said, "Just something about you that everyone seems to love."

Miley frowned as she looked over his shoulder and said, "Well, most everyone." Oliver turned and saw Amber and Ashley walking their way.

"Well, whatever those two have planned, I'm sure it's not in your best interest, Miley," he said, a bit worried now. Amber and Ashley made no secret of their dislike of the soccer team this year, mainly because of Lilly and Miley. Additionally, none of their friends had made the team this year, and Miley suspected that was also a large reason for their animosity to this year's team.

"Thanks for the update on the obvious, Oliver," Miley said sarcastically. "Hey, why don't you see if you can find out what they're up to?" One of Oliver's talents was the sheer number of acquaintances he had at Seaview. While not all of them were really friends, all of them were at least friendly, and he knew how to stir up information like no one else Miley knew at the school.

"Not a bad idea," Oliver said, as he slipped off. He knew Miley could handle herself, plus he really didn't want to have to deal with the drama twins right now, anyway. Bad moods brought on by them tended to linger.

As Oliver walked off, Amber and Ashley stepped up in his place. Miley turned away from them to watch the action on the field. After a minute or two of everyone standing in silence, Miley winced as Lilly got kicked in the back of the leg, nearly knocking her down.

"Boy, looked like that hurt," said Amber smugly. Miley turned to look at her, slightly surprised at that comment. Amber smiled at her, then nodded in the direction of the field. "Looks like your little lesbian is taking some hard shots out there, Stewart," Amber said, with no small amount of pleasure in her voice.

Miley turned to look at Amber with a gaze that Ashley instinctively shied away from. "What are you up to, Amber?" Miley asked coolly

"Me?" Amber said, sweetly. "Oh, I'm not up to anything. Just watching the game. Looks a bit rough tonight, doesn't it?"

Miley turned back to watch the action. Sure enough, the game was getting rougher. Of course, these were two teams playing to go to the championship game for the district, so everyone had expected a hard-fought game. In games of this intensity, most referees tended to let slightly more contact slide than usual; after all, this was the end of the regular season, and the championship game would probably be even slightly rougher. Still, Miley thought there were quite a few more elbows and late kicks than she had been expecting. She grimaced as Kaela took a particularly hard shot in the chest, but she shrugged it off and sent the deflected shot back forward to Jen. Jen ran with the ball and crossed it to Lilly, but before the cross reached her, an Oaks defender jumped up behind Lilly and headed the ball away. What concerned Miley more, however, was that Lilly dropped to the ground immediately after the play. Jen ran over and helped her up, but it took Lilly a few seconds to stand. Once she was back up, she started jogging back toward the ball, ready to go again. Miley found herself breathing again; she hadn't realized she had been holding her breath the whole time Lilly had been on the ground.

"Miley!"

Miley turned at the sound of Oliver calling her name. She saw him, uncharacteristically running toward her. "Oliver?" she said. "What's going on?"

Oliver skidded to a stop right in front of her, catching his breath for a few seconds. His gaze never left Amber and Ashley until he was ready to talk, then he turned back to Miley. "Well," he said a bit breathlessly, "it seems that Amber's cousin and two of Ashley's friends play for Thousand Oaks' soccer team."

Miley spun toward the two troublemakers, furious. "And you've got them out there gunning for my girlfriend?!" she screamed. "How low _are_ you two?"

They just grinned at Miley, both looking quite pleased with themselves. "Aw, it's a contact sport, Stewart," said Ashley. "People get hurt all the time!"

Amber smiled as she nodded her head. "Yeah, I mean, if your precious little playmate gets hurt, how could that be our fault? It's not like we're out there on the field!" she said, her face the picture of innocence for about three seconds, then the innocence in a fit of laughter that was anything but innocent.

Oliver spun Miley back around. "Miley, you've got to get her attention! She's gonna get her head taken off out there!"

Miley looked back onto the field. Right then, Lilly took a hard shove in the back, sending her sprawling to the ground. "Why aren't they calling that?" she yelled. "Lilly's going to get hurt bad out there!"

Oliver nodded. "You know how she gets when she's competing, Miley. She won't register anything said by anyone off the field. You're the only one who can get her attention."

Miley wasn't even sure _she_ could get Lilly's attention at this moment. Furthermore, she wasn't sure she wanted to distract her, with all the girls trying to take her out. If Lilly looked away at the wrong time, she could get hurt badly. Then Lilly took a withering blow, one that sucked the breath out of Miley. Lilly had gone up for a header on a corner kick, but the ball was a bit too high. Luckily, Kaela came up from the far side of the net, easily driving the ball into the net with her head. Too easily. When going for the ball, the Oaks keeper had shoved Lilly into another Oaks player, who deliberately slammed her shoulder into Lilly's head.

Miley gasped, covering her mouth with her hands as Lilly crumpled to the ground. "Oh my gosh," she said weakly, not even reacting as Amber and Ashley started laughing. As the Seaview players realized what had happened in addition to the goal, celebration turned to concern. Kaela knelt down and started talking to Lilly. When Lilly moved her legs, Miley's heart started beating again, but it remained rapid and erratic, mimicking her breathing. She began making her way numbly to the Seaview bench, knowing they'd bring Lilly there when they could. As she walked, her eyes stayed focused on the field. The one Seaview player who wasn't looking at Lilly was Jen Kittrell. Jen had taken a different approach to the beating Lilly had been taking.

"What the hell kind of game are you calling here?" she screamed at the referee, who was in the process of handing out a card to the girl who had flattened Lilly. When the referee showed a yellow card instead of a red one, Jen went ballistic. "YELLOW?!" she screamed in a voice loud enough to be heard clearly up in the bleachers behind Miley and Oliver. "These bitches have been taking cheap shots at her all night, and you're giving her a _yellow_ card?" she yelled. The referee said something to Jen, probably a warning about her language, Miley figured. Whatever it was, it turned out to be a bad idea. Jen got directly in front of the referee and yelled, "Well, if you're too stupid to remember what a red card is for, let me remind you!" She then turned and punched the girl who had taken Lilly out, directly in the face. Even before the blood or the girl herself hit the grass, Jen had decked a second girl who had landed several cheap shots on Lilly so far in the game. "THAT'S what a red card looks like!" she screamed. "It's bullshit that a _player_ has to protect other players in this game! That's supposed to be YOUR job!" she yelled, pointing at the referee. She then turned and helped Kaela get Lilly up and walk her to the sideline. Jen didn't even bother to turn around to watch the referee red card her; she knew all too well what she had done, and she seemed quite content with the consequences, even though it meant her high school career in soccer was probably over.

Miley sped up, now running over to the Seaview bench as the referee checked his watch and whistled for the half. Apparently he had thought it was time for a break to let tempers cool as well. When Miley got there, Lilly was lying down on the grass behind the bench, an icepack over the side of her head as the athletic trainer assessed her. Kaela saw Miley coming and moved some of her teammates out of the way. A few of them started to protest, but when they saw who was coming through the crowd, nothing was said. Miley knelt down on the grass beside her lover, tears running down her face as she fought to keep her emotions under control. Rather than try to speak, she just took Lilly's left hand and held it, kissing it softly, over and over.

After a few minutes, Lilly groaned and her eyes slowly, haltingly tried to open. Miley smiled weakly, but the simple sign of improvement broke the psychic dam holding back her emotions. As she started crying, she knelt down and kissed Lilly on the forehead, keeping her lips there for long seconds. When she pulled back, she could hear Lilly weakly mumble, "Hey hon, what happened?"

Miley looked down at her and shushed her. "Don't try to talk, Lil. You got a hard hit on the head, and it knocked you out."

Lilly mumbled, "Which hard hit? I been takin' em all night, seems like."

Miley lifted her eyes up to look at Lilly's teammates. "Amber and Ashley put a hit out on Lilly tonight," she said, cold anger in her voice. "Several of their friends play for Oaks."

At that statement, the mood of the young women standing around and over Miley and Lilly changed perceptibly. Concern and worry were pushed aside to make room for anger and outrage. Jen stepped forward, her bag slung over her shoulder. "I've been trying to keep 'em off you all night, Truscott, but it seemed like pretty much everyone on the field was out to get you. Looks like we know why now."

Kaela couldn't believe it. "But why go after Lilly? I mean, Miley, you were the one who blasted them in the lunchroom." She looked around at her teammates' expressions and added, "I mean, I'm not saying what you did was wrong, because it wasn't, but I figured they'd have retaliated at you, not Lilly."

Miley sniffed as she wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve. "It's simple, Kaela. Amber knows that the best way to hurt me would be to hurt Lilly," she said. "That would hit me harder than anything she could do to me personally." And everyone on the soccer team knew that was true.

Jen stood over Miley a bit longer. "Want me to deal with them too?" Miley looked up at her, dumbfounded. Jen shrugged her shoulders and said with a mean smile, "The way I see it, I'm probably going to get suspended anyway, so I might as well hand out some more justice before they escort me out of here."

Miley gently laid Lilly's hand down on her chest, then she stood and hugged Jen. Everyone froze, including Jen, until Jen hesitantly put her left arm around Miley and hugged her back. "Thank you," Miley said. "Thank you for looking out for the woman I love."

Jen smiled, and as Miley looked in her face, she could see no hint of malice or bitterness in Jen's smile this time. "You're welcome, Stewart," Jen said. "You've got a special woman there, and everyone can see it. That's why those bitches hate you two so much, you know. They're jealous, because they know that no one will ever feel for them the way you two feel for each other." She leaned in closer to hug Miley, and then she whispered in her ear, "Now let me the fuck go before I start crying, because I can't have that."

Miley smiled and let Jen go. Before she left, Jen said to Lilly, "Get your ass together Truscott, because I've leaving you ladies with a two goal lead. Make it last. I plan on being here for the championship game if the school board lets me, and you better win tonight so you can get us there."

Lilly smiled, then she tried to stand. Miley immediately dropped down and said, "You sit first, lover. _Then_ you can try to stand after you get more steady." The team chuckled a bit at that statement, both at Miley's admission of the true status of their relationship as well as the loving concern she showed for Lilly. Miley heard Gina Giles quietly say to another girl, "You owe me ten bucks."

"'Kay," Lilly said to Miley in response to her command to stay down, smiling a bit herself. "Thanks, Jen," she said instead of standing. When Jen heard that, she smiled back and said, "You're welcome," then she turned and walked off, leaving the stadium for possibly the last time in her playing career.

Miley looked down at Lilly, whose color seemed to be slowly returning. "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but that was sweet of Jen."

Lilly tried to smile as she said, "Yeah, that was nice of her to say that. Why was she leaving?"

Miley was surprised, then she realized that Lilly had been unconscious for the whole incident with Jen on the field. "Honey, she took out two of those tramps that were trying to hurt you." Lilly looked up at Miley, still not quite grasping it. "I mean, she _took them out_. She punched them both! Looked like she broke the first girl's nose, at least."

"She got thrown out?" Lilly asked, as she struggled to stand. Miley and Kaela helped her to her feet, where she wobbled weakly for a bit. Miley held on to her tightly, giving her as much support as she could. "What's the score, one to nothing?"

Kaela said, "No, two to nothing. I got that one you went up for, where they took you out."

Lilly grinned and said, "At least we got something out of it."

Miley looked a bit hot at that comment. "Oh no Truscott, you don't get off that easily. You could have really been hurt out there, so don't you try to play that down. You got your bell rung, and you probably have a concussion too."

"Wouldn't be my first," muttered Lilly.

"Did you say something?" Miley said, cutting an eye at her girlfriend.

Lilly smiled brightly, or at least as bright as she could manage, as she said, "Just that I love you, Miley!"

Miley smiled at that, then said, "Good," as she kissed Lilly on the lips softly. "At least that didn't get knocked out of your brain."

A giggle made its way around the soccer team, still surrounding Lilly and Miley. At that point, the coach's voice could be heard. "Alright, make a path, make a path!" She pushed her way through to the center of the ring, where she saw Lilly and Miley standing. Well, Miley standing and Lilly leaning on Miley. She looked at the two girls, then she said, "Truscott, how are you feeling?"

"Great, Coach," Lilly said, smiling.

"Crap, you got hit harder than I thought," she muttered. She raised her voice as she looked around and said, "Alright, we've got a two goal lead, and a half to hold them back. We've lost Kittrell, and I doubt Truscott is going back in for this half. So we have to get out there and hold that lead. Let 'em run some, but shut them down when they get close. We want to make 'em run until they're tired, because we're in better shape than they are. On the bright side, two of their better players are out now, and I seriously doubt either of them will be coming back this game."

Kaela said, "We've got 'em, Coach. Brooke can play a lone forward, and we can add another to defense. We'll clog the midfield and keep the ball locked out. It won't be pretty, but we can hold Oaks off for thirty minutes."

Lilly said, "Whatta mean I'm not goin' back in?" She was still unsteady, but she thought she could stand. However, she kept her arm around Miley, mainly to hold her lover rather than for support at the moment. "I can stand now, and I'll be able to run in a few minutes."

The trainer said, "Lilly, you don't need to go back in this game. You've got a concussion--"

Miley whispered, "Told you," in Lilly's ear.

"--and it's too dangerous for you to go back in," the trainer finished.

Lilly protested, "But I can see now...mostly. And the double vision is clearing up!"

Miley fixed Lilly with a glowering Look as she sternly said, "You are _not_ going back into this game except as a last resort." She looked directly into Lilly's eyes, communicating her steadfastness on this point.

Lilly looked back into Miley's eyes, and she realized that Miley simply wasn't going to budge. Not this time. The only thing that could override Miley's desire to make Lilly happy was her desire to protect Lilly. This time, Lilly knew she wasn't going to win, so she lowered her head from the Look and said, "Okay Miley, I'll sit. I know you're worried about me, and you're right."

Miley hurriedly said, "Oh, don't even try to tell me you're going back into that--" She stopped as her brain processed what Lilly had actually said, rather what she had expected. "What did you say?"

Lilly smiled at her girlfriend. "I said, you're right. I got a hard shot to the head, and I probably shouldn't be going back into the game."

Miley smiled back as she said, "Wow, I thought you'd argue about it."

Lilly said, "Well, I started to, but then I realized that you're right. I really shouldn't be out there right now. I need to be here. Plus you can hold me while I'm sitting down, icing my head." She grinned as Miley helped her sit back down on the grass.

Miley said, "Deal," as she sat down behind Lilly, settling Lilly's head in her lap and replacing the icepack over the lump on the side of Lilly's head. She had also positioned them where they could watch the rest of the game from beside the bench.

Now that Lilly's protest had been halted before it started, Kaela told her teammates, "Okay ladies, let's go get this game locked down!" They cheered, hugged Miley, Lilly, or both of them together, and ran back onto the field. They had gotten enough rest, and they already knew the game plan. Now all that remained was to carry it out.

As the girls ran back onto the field, Miley called out, "Coach!" Coach Larkins turned and walked over to the two girls next to the bench. "What is it, Stewart? She wanting to go back in already?"

Miley laughed. "No, not exactly. She knows I'm not letting her get back out there, not until she's better. I was wondering, do you have Jen Kittrell's phone number? There's something I need to ask her."

The rest of the game went exactly as Seaview had planned. Playing only one forward with five midfielders and four defenders, Seaview shut Thousand Oaks out in the second half as well. Kaela almost made it a three goal game with a late charge at the very end, but her shot went wide of the goal. Still, when the final whistle blew, the celebration started immediately. By then, Lilly knew she was able to stand, but when Miley asked her, she said she was still a bit dizzy. Sitting with Miley holding her head and rubbing her temples softly just felt heavenly, and Lilly was going to indulge herself for a little while. When her teammates brought the water jug over, acting as if they were going to throw it on the two girls, Miley leaned forward to try and shield Lilly from the cold water. However, the soaking was instead directed to the coach at the last minute, with only a few drops splattering Miley's back. But Miley's brave effort to protect Lilly gave Lilly the perfect opportunity to tickle Miley's ribs, getting a shriek out of her as she squirmed in vain.

Kaela laughed as she saw the predicament Miley was in. If Miley jumped up, Lilly's head would thump onto the ground; therefore, Miley just lightly thrashed, taking the tickling to keep Lilly from getting jostled around. Kaela stepped over, grabbing Lilly's hands and sparing Miley from further tickle torture. "Ease off, Lilly, your woman's trying to keep you from bonking your thick head again," she said.

Lilly looked to see who was spoiling her fun. When she settled her eyes on Kaela, she said, "Aw, you're spoiling my fun, Kae!"

Kaela said, "Miley isn't running away because your head is in her lap. If she jumps up, your head is gonna hit the ground again. Did you think of that?"

Lilly hadn't. But now she did. "Sorry, Miley," she said sheepishly. "And thank you for trying to protect me, even when I was tickling you."

Miley smiled down at the young woman she loved with all her heart. "You're welcome, sweetheart," she said. She leaned down and gave Lilly a kiss as she helped Lilly sit back up. "Think you can stand?"

Lilly nodded her head. "Yeah, I think so." Kaela offered the two girls each a hand, helping them both stand up easily. Lilly held onto Miley when she was upright, but she released Kaela. After a minute, Lilly said, "Okay, I'm good, Miley."

Miley grinned and said, "Yes you are, but I'm still helping you walk to the car." Lilly blushed at the bold compliment, but she gladly let Miley walk with her to the car. Miley said to Kaela as they walked, "Thanks again Kaela. See you tomorrow night?"

Kaela nodded. "Oh yeah. Make sure you get Lilly to rest and not overdo it, okay Miley?"

Miley said, "Oh, I'll take good care of her."

Kaela smiled as Miley and Lilly walked off. "Now I have some other people to take care of," she said to herself. She whistled, then turned to look at her teammates. With a nod, they set off to the bathrooms.

Miley helped Lilly get to her parents' car. "Now Lilly, you just ease right into the backseat, okay hon?" she said, as Mr. Truscott opened the back door for the girls.

Lilly winced as she started to squat to get into the car. "Miles, can you get in and help me?" she asked, a flicker of discomfort on her face.

Miley said, "Of course sweetie," then she slid into the back seat before Lilly. Once seated, she turned and helped ease Lilly into the car. As Lilly mostly fell into the car, she wrapped her arms around Miley, holding her tightly.

"Stay with me tonight Miley, please," Lilly said softly. "I know it'd help me feel better quicker," she added, giving Miley a hurt smile. The same hurt smile that she knew Miley simply couldn't resist.

_She knows I can't resist that pitiful little smile,_ Miley thought. "Okay hon, let me ask Daddy." Miley rolled down the window beside and yelled to her father, "Daddy!" Robbie Ray was standing at the car, talking to Lilly's parents, so he immediately turned and said, "What is it, darlin'? Lilly okay?"

Miley said, "She's still dizzy, Daddy, and she wants me to stay with her tonight." Miley looked down at Lilly, who was almost asleep now that she was holding Miley. "I don't think she's going to be able to go to school tomorrow," she said to her father. "I really need to be there with her, because everyone else will be at work tomorrow."

Robbie Ray thought about that, then he turned to the Truscotts. "That alright with ya'll?" he asked.

Mrs. Truscott said, "Of course, Robbie. I'd feel better if Miley was home with Lilly tomorrow anyway, after that hard hit she took to the head." Her husband agreed with her, saying, "Absolutely. I know she'll be in good hands with Miley."

Robbie Ray turned back to Miley as he said, "Okay bud. If you need anything tonight or tomorrow, you just give me a call, okay?"

"Thanks Daddy!" Miley said, blowing him a kiss. "And thanks Mr. and Mrs. Truscott!" Miley rolled the window up slightly, then she returned her focus to her girlfriend, now sleeping peacefully in her arms. "You get better fast, Lilly Bear," she said softly, placing a gentle kiss on Lilly's head.

The drive to the Truscotts' house went quickly, as they only lived a few minutes away. Once the car stopped, Miley gently shook Lilly, saying, "Wake up, Lilly, we're home." She missed the look Mr. Truscott gave Mrs. Truscott at her choice of words, instead giving all her attention to gently waking Lilly without startling her. "Lilly, c'mon hon, I need you to help walk inside."

Lilly stirred, starting to quickly sit up when Miley forced her to instead sit up more slowly. "We're home?" she asked sleepily. Miley said, "Yeah," as she opened the door and helped Lilly climb out of the car. Once both girls were standing, Miley supported Lilly as they walked to the door. Miley pulled out her key and unlocked the door, helping Lilly inside. They didn't even bother to take off their shoes once they were inside; instead, they slowly climbed the steps to their room, knowing they could undress in there once Lilly was safely in the bed.

As the girls ascended the stairs, Lilly's father quietly said to her mother, "Did you hear Miley call our place her home?" She nodded, watching the girls go up the stairs. "What did she mean by that?" he continued.

She turned to look at her husband, surprised he didn't get it. "This place _is_ her home, Phil, just like Miley's house is Lilly's home too. They think of both houses as home, because what belongs to one of those girls also belongs to the other." She turned her gaze back to the steps, now empty of activity since Miley and Lilly had gotten upstairs. "Those two are growing up—I mean, _have_ grown up, much faster than any of us has realized." She walked over to the refrigerator, pulling a Ziploc bag from the cabinet above it. Turning to the ice dispenser, she started filling the bag with ice. "I think when they decide to ask us, we should let them get married," she said over her shoulder to her husband.

"What?" he said. "Meredith, they're not even sixteen yet!"

His wife turned to look at him. "They turn sixteen in less than a week, Phil! And I want to remind you that that's how old _we_ were when you proposed to me!" She fought to keep her voice calm. "Do you have any doubt that they love each other?" she asked as she glared at him.

"No," he answered.

Her gaze softened slightly. "Do you think either of them has the capability to hurt the other? Deliberately, I mean. I know that sometimes accidents happen and all that."

"No," he answered again.

"Do you think this is some phase they're going through still?"

The tone in her her voice made it quite clear what his answer better be, if he wanted to avoid a fight. And truthfully, he didn't think it was a phase, not now. "No, I know it's not a phase now. They really are in love."

She smiled at his honesty. "They've already proposed and accepted. They had the courage to tell us right away. They've dealt with any negative reactions that have come up, and they've done it gracefully. They've shown how much they love each other, and we all know they're going to get married as soon as possible. While I realize they're young, that's probably the only reason they haven't run off and gotten married already!" She paused. "And when you think about it, doesn't recognizing that themselves earn them some credit on the maturity scale?"

"I guess so," he said. "But still, they're not even sixteen! Not yet, I mean."

"I know, but they haven't asked us yet, either." She turned to look back at the steps leading upstairs. "I'm just saying that, when they decide to ask us if they can get married before they turn eighteen, and I'm sure they will eventually, we should strongly consider saying yes." Her husband didn't say anything, instead he just stared at those stairs, substituting them for his daughter and future daughter-in-law. "Phil, look at how much better Lilly has done since she and Miley have been dating! Her grades have improved, her attendance is much better, she's playing sports again, and she been a dear helping around the house. Heavens, even little Miley has been a dear with this house! You know, they cleaned the entire downstairs two weekends ago."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "The entire downstairs?" She nodded. "I thought you helped them."

She smiled coyly. "Well, I sort of let you think that," she admitted. "But they really did it all themselves."

"It looked amazing," he said. "And Lilly's grades _have_ been much better. Even with all that extra time she spends with Miley, she's doing much better in school and with her chores."

"Oh Phil, she's always spent all that time with Miley. You've just never noticed exactly how much before."

"Really?" he asked. He honestly hadn't realized how much time Lilly had previously spent with Miley, just that she seemed to be gone all the time now. "What do they do all the time?"

"Oh, go shopping, watch movies, go to concerts, things like that," she said, holding the truth inside. Well, the rest of the truth; what she told him was true enough, just not all of it. "They have a special kind of relationship, Phil." Getting an idea, she said, "Come upstairs with me, so I can take them this icepack. But be quiet."

She softly climbed the steps, making as little noise as possible. However, she expected that the girls would be fast asleep by now. It was almost ten, and they had both been exhausted from the events of the game. She herself had been terrified when Lilly had gone down that last time. The only thing that had reassured her more than seeing Lilly move on her own was seeing Miley hold her.

As they reached Lilly's room, she silently opened the door and peeked in the room. Sure enough, they were fast asleep, cuddled together under the covers. Miley's arms were above the sheets, wrapped protectively around Lilly's chest, while Lilly was curled against Miley's body, her head resting on Miley's shoulder. Their hair was strewn together across the pillows, blended in a way that made it difficult to tell where one's hair stopped and the other's started.

"Look, Phil," Lilly's mother said softly. He peeked around the door, taking in the sight of his only daughter being held securely, lovingly by the young woman who had come into their family four years ago and now was never going to leave. Seeing how fiercely they clung to each other even in sleep, he had no further doubts that they were meant to be together. He looked at his wife and smiled, then he silently closed the door. They went back down the stairs as softly as they went up them. As they reached the kitchen, Mrs. Truscott tossed the icepack into the garbage. "Looks like they won't be needing that," she said pleasantly.

"It's so nice to see Lilly sleeping well. Remember all those nightmares she used to have?" her husband asked.

"Yes, Phil, of course I do. We had her to three different doctors trying to get to the bottom of them. All we ever got was that in her nightmares she was alone, lost and afraid in the dark." She paused. "Do you remember when the nightmares stopped?" she asked him.

He thought for a bit. "Yes, they just stopped. That was as odd as them just starting years before."

"No Phil, don't you remember _when_ they stopped?" she said.

He thought for a minute or two, then shook his head. "No, afraid I don't. It was a few years ago, wasn't it?"

His wife smiled. "Yes. Almost exactly four years ago." She could see he still hadn't made the connection. "Do you remember when Miley's family moved in?"

He nodded his head and said, "Sure, just about... four years ago."

She smiled. "Yes."

"Do you think..." he said, his voice fading away.

She nodded again. "I do. The nightmares stopped the week that she and Miley met. I remember it as clear as if it were yesterday."

He looked a bit pale. "But didn't she start having them again, last year, for a week or two?"

She nodded. "Yes, when Miley was dating that Jake Ryan boy. I asked Lilly later what was going on that caused her to be so upset. She said it was because he wasn't right for Miley, but I never even considered that Lilly might have been who was right for Miley." She involuntarily shivered slightly. "I think our girls are connected in a way that we can't fully understand."

He considered that as well. "I'm not big on all that superstitious stuff, Meredith."

She turned to look at him, a smile on her face. "Maybe you should start, Phil," she said. "I think that our daughter has found her true love, and we should be thankful for that. Miley will be a wonderful wife for Lilly, even if the relationship is a bit... modern."

"No argument there, Meredith. Miley is a wonderful young lady, and I think she'll grow up to be something amazing, just like our Lilly."

Meredith Truscott just smiled. _If only you knew, Phil_, she thought. _Our girls are already more amazing than you realize._

During the night, Lilly stirred slightly, waking because something wasn't right. Her head was pounding, but she ignored the pain, trying to find what was wrong. She fumbled around the bed, still half-asleep but fully aware that something was missing. She was in bed alone, but she would have sworn that Miley had gone to bed with her. Then she heard Miley's soft snoring, and that was one of the sweetest sounds she could have heard at that time. She rolled to her right to the side of the bed, and smiled when she saw Miley had rolled out onto the floor. "Aw, my poor Miley," she said as she saw Miley lying on the carpet, naked and obviously cold from the goosebumps on her skin. "Miley, sweetheart," Lilly said softly, "Miley, come get in the bed." Miley mumbled something, then Lilly clearly heard the word "cold". She grinned. "Miley, you're cold because you rolled out of bed. Get your naked butt up here so I can get you warm."

_That_ stirred Miley to action. She pulled herself to her feet, then she felt for the bed. Lilly took her hand and gently guided her to the soft warmth of their bed, folding the covers over Miley's long, lean body as she tucked in beside Lilly. "You okay, Lil?" Miley mumbled, her voice heavy with sleep.

Lilly smiled. "I am now, Miles." She kissed Miley on the forehead, getting a sleepy grin. "I am now."

**Author's Afterword:** Okay, no date this time, but that'll be in the next chapter. Like I've said before, the story writes itself, I just type the words down. This time, the story wanted to focus on the game and Lilly's injury. You'll get the date next, I promise. And just what was Kaela up to with the rest of the soccer team after the game? I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I can, but as always, give me three or four days. See you soon!

-- Jo --


	7. Chapter 7: Convalescence

**Author's Note:** Several of you sent very sweet e-mails to me about the last chapter; thanks so much for them and for the nice reviews! It makes me feel good to know that in some small way I'm bringing a bit of happiness to others. I love all of you, and thanks for reading and enjoying my stories. Please see Chapter 1 for my standard disclaimers!

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 7: Convalescence

_You pull me aside when something ain't right_

_Cover me now and into the night_

_'Til it's alright again_

_You're a true friend_

_--_Hannah Montana"True Friend"

As Lilly slowly drifted back into wakefulness, she blinked her eyes at the sunlight flowing into her room. _Why is it so bright this early? Oh no, I bet I overslept! Miley's going to be SO ticked off if she's on her way over here to wake me up, because it'll make her late for school too! _ Lilly threw off the covers and froze. _Why am I naked? I only sleep that way when I'm sleeping with Miley... Was Miley here with me last night? _She looked around her room, searching for clues as to what was going on. She saw her clock, which cheerfully informed her that it was almost ten o'clock. Then her eyes settled on Miley's backpack, shoes and clothes stacked on her dresser. Lilly smiled as she had the answer to her question. As she pulled a t-shirt over her head and slipped into a pair of panties, the door to her room opened.

"Morning, sweetheart!" Miley said cheerfully. "You're up! Yay!"

Lilly grinned when she saw where Miley had been. Miley walked across the room and set the tray on Lilly's work desk. On the tray was a bowl of oatmeal, a dish of brown sugar, scrambled eggs, and toast with whipped butter and grape jelly. For drinks, Miley had brought two glasses with orange juice and one glass of milk. Lilly walked over and hugged Miley from behind. "Thank you, sweetheart," she said to Miley. "You're so good to me, and I love you."

Miley patted Lilly's hands, clasped around her chest. "You're welcome, dear," she replied. "I figured after that rough soccer game last night you could use some pampering."

"Thanks, Miles," Lilly said again. "Did my parents say it was okay for us to stay home today?"

Miley nodded. "Oh yeah, plus my dad agreed too. You took a hard shot to the head last night, Lil." Miley lifted Lilly's hair on the left side of her head, gently feeling the knot just underneath the skin. Lilly winced as Miley touched the knot.

"What happened at the game?" Lilly said. "I mean, I remember scoring a goal, and I remember that it seemed like everyone out there was trying to hurt me. But other than that, I don't remember anything about the game."

Miley smiled gently. "Honey, everyone playing for Oaks _was_ trying to hurt you. We have Amber and Ashley to thank for that."

Any time Lilly heard those two names, she knew something bad was never far behind. "What did they do?"

Miley picked up a slice of toast and lightly spread some butter across it, then she handed it to Lilly, who promptly began munching on it. Miley said, "Well, it seems that our two archenemies put out a hit on you last night, and nearly everyone on the Oaks team was trying to collect. Oliver found at least three players on their team that were either related to or friends with Amber and Ashley, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were more."

Lilly was amazed. Even for Amber and Ashley, that was ruthless. "I take it one of them collected, since I was knocked out."

Miley shook her head. "I honestly don't know what was offered, or what the conditions were, just that everyone seemed to be trying to hurt you last night. You got hammered several times, until one of them finally got a very cheap shot on you with a shoulder to your head while you were off-balance."

Lilly started on the eggs as she said, "Did they at least throw her out of the game?"

Miley shook her head again. "Nope, just a yellow." Lilly's jaw dropped open, but before she could say anything, Miley held up her hand and said, "But she got what was coming to her. Jen knocked her out. I mean, flat knocked her _out_. Right there in front of the ref and everything."

Lilly mumbled something around a mouthful of eggs. Miley pointed at Lilly's mouth, smiling. Lilly grinned, then finished chewing and swallowed. "Sorry," she said to Miley. "I said, didn't they throw her out too, then?"

Miley looked sad as she said, "Yeah. Jen didn't even wait to see the card. She broke that girl's nose, then punched another player as well, and then she just helped carry you off the field, not even looking back at the referee once."

"She punched _another_ player?" Lilly said, her eyes wide.

Miley said, "Yeah, and she screamed at the referee about having to do his job taking care of the players on the field."

"Wow," Lilly mumbled again. "She must have been royally ticked off!"

Miley hugged Lilly, then she said, "Believe me sweetheart, she wasn't the only one." She handed Lilly a glass of orange juice. "I made you a special breakfast, so you can start feeling better quickly. And I wanted to stay home with you today to make sure you were okay."

Lilly grinned. "As long as you're with me, Miles, I'm great," she said. "But I do have a killer headache." She reached up, feeling for the lump on the side of her head. Finding it, she said, "Wow, that's a big knot." She decided to leave it alone, as it remained very tender. "So what are we going to do to get Amber and Ashley back?"

Miley had already been thinking about that this morning, but she hadn't come up with a good plan yet. "I'm not sure, Lilly. Whatever we do, we need to be careful. This feud has gotten much uglier with what they did last night. I'm afraid if we strike back too hard, things will only get more dangerous."

Lilly considered that, then she spoke. "But there's no way we can let this just slide! What they pulled deserves some serious payback."

Miley sighed. "Like I said sweetie, I agree, but we have to be careful to not push things too far, or they're going to continue to escalate what they do as well. And next time, one of us might get hurt even worse than you did last night."

Miley did have a good point. It sounded to Lilly that she could have been hurt much worse than she actually was last night, and the last thing she'd want would be for Miley to be the one who got hurt the next time. "Okay, so we need to seriously plan out what we can do to get them back, plus keep things from getting any more dangerous," she said to Miley.

"Yes, exactly," Miley said, nodding. She had taken possession of the oatmeal and dumped the brown sugar into the goopy stuff, stirring it in until it had melted nicely. Once she had the oatmeal sweetened just how she liked it, Miley attacked it hungrily. "Well, we can think about it for a few days. If we pulled something this soon after what they did, we'd be the first suspects anyway."

Lilly watched Miley eat, as she thought about how special Miley really was. Take away all the celebrity, the fortune, the musical talent, and Miley was still the most amazing person Lilly had ever known. All the silliness, the laughter, the passion, the crazy ideas, the true friendship, all those were part of the young woman Miley was. Lilly could spend her entire lifetime with Miley and never get tired of being around her. While unpredictable at times, their life together was never boring. And Lilly expected it never would be.

"What are you smiling about, Truscott?" Miley said, licking her lips to get a dab of oatmeal off them.

Instead of replying verbally, Lilly instead set down her plate, got up and walked over to Miley, and sat down in her lap. She then leaned down and wrapped her arms around Miley's chest, pulling her lover close to her. As their eyes danced, just inches away, Lilly gently extended her tongue and licked the dab of sweet oatmeal off Miley's lips. As Miley's eyes fluttered at the incredibly erotic contact, Lilly leaned the remaining inch forward and pressed her lips against Miley's. As both sets of lips parted to deepened the kiss, Miley fumbled to safely set the bowl on Lilly's desk before they fell over onto the floor. Once the bowl had been deposited on the desk, Miley grabbed Lilly's legs and stood up, lifting her lover as she carried her the few feet to their bed.

"Ooooh, Lilly likey," Lilly breathed as Miley fell onto the bed with her. "My Wonder Woman," she whispered into Miley's ear as Miley started peeling off Lilly's t-shirt, with her own clothes hitting the floor just seconds later.

After fiercely making love, the girls took a morning nap, their shapely limbs entwined together across their bed. Upon waking, Lilly was still wanting more, so Miley happily obliged her. After all, it wasn't every day they got a morning all to themselves. After round two and then round three, Miley was stretched out atop Lilly's firm body, exhausted but content. Miley kissed Lilly's neck, getting what sounded remarkably like a purr from her blonde lover. "You like that, sweetheart?" Miley whispered.

Lilly softly said, "Oh yeah," turning her head to the right to expose more of her neck for Miley to kiss. She ran her hands softly down Miley's long back, feeling the skin prickle and rise along the paths her fingers traced. "And I know you like that," Lilly said to Miley, smiling at the effect they always had on each other.

Miley whispered, "Oh yeah," against Lilly's skin, echoing her lover's earlier response. Miley lifted her head, then kissed Lilly gently on the lips, lingering there for long seconds. "I love touching you, Lilly, I really do, but what we have is..." She paused, unsure of how to say what she was thinking.

"It's more than just sex," Lilly finished for her. "Much more."

Miley was astonished, because that was exactly what she had been thinking. "Yes," she said, looking down into Lilly's eyes. "It is. If we never had sex again, I'd still feel closer to you than to anyone else I've ever known."

Lilly smiled up at Miley, looking into her partner's ocean blue eyes. "Right. When you touch me, whether we're making love or just brushing each other's hair, it's like you go through my skin and touch my soul, Miley Stewart." She brushed Miley's dark hair back behind her left ear, grinning at how Miley unconsciously leaned into even Lilly's slightest touch, instinctively craving more. "I don't ever want to get tired of you, Miley. I—I don't think I could. I hope that doesn't bother you or make you worry I'm jinxing us by saying that, I just..." She hesitated, unsure of how much more to say.

Miley smiled and kissed Lilly again, knowing what fear Lilly was hesitant to speak out loud. "Lilly, don't you worry. I'll never get tired of you, I promise. We have so much together, there's always going to be something different, something fun, something special we can do together. But right now, I'm kinda enjoying making love to you, so don't plan on us stopping any time soon," she said, grinning down at the woman whom she would soon pledge her life to. In her heart, Miley already had pledged her life to Lilly, but she wanted to do it out loud, with all the world watching, solemnly sworn before witnesses, family and God. All they had to do was be patient, for soon enough their time would come.

As Lilly listened to Miley's gentle words, she teared up. As usual, Miley had known exactly what she was afraid of, that one day Lilly would lose her charm and Miley would move on. And Miley had known exactly what to say to reassure Lilly that their love was forever. Lilly knew that, of course, but sometimes just hearing what she already knew made her feel better. "Sorry for getting all teary, Miles," she said, freeing a hand to wipe her eyes. "I guess it's the concussion talking. I know you're not ever going to leave me, and it's silly--"

Miley cut Lilly off by kissing her, a kiss deeper than any they had shared that morning. Lilly's toes curled as they pulled themselves against each other, wanting _more_, needing _more_. Without breaking their kiss, hands started to roam, as they found each other's most intimate areas and gently entered, not needing to ask permission when it had already been given permanently, payable anytime and anywhere. As the kiss continued, the touching intensified, coming more quickly, more firmly, until both of them shuddered with their orgasms, sharing their release throughout their entire bodies.

As Miley's brain began working again, she forced her eyes to focus as she panted, still leaning over Lilly, whose face was joyous in its ecstasy. Lilly was also fighting for breath, and as her eyes shot open, they too took several seconds to focus, until they finally settled on Miley's beautiful face. "Wow," Miley said, nearly dumbstruck by how intense their intimacy had just been.

Lilly opened her mouth, but nothing came out at first. She then just smiled, then tried again. Finally, she whispered, "Amen."

Miley giggled at her lover's attempt at speaking, making Lilly laugh as well. Miley looked down at Lilly, then she rolled over onto her left side, pulling Lilly over with her. As she gently trailed her fingers down Lilly's flushed face, she said, "I love it when you're silly, Lilly." She inadvertently giggled at the rhyme, getting another laugh out of Lilly as well. "But being concerned about our future certainly isn't silly. And I'm sure at times I'll feel insecure and could use some reassurance from you, sweetheart."

Lilly said, "Well, I hope I can reassure you half as well as you just reassured me, lover, 'cause I think you fixed that catch in my back from my skateboard wreck last month."

Miley grinned at Lilly's compliment. "What makes it so great is the difference between having sex and making love, Lil," she said.

Lilly nodded her head as she pulled Miley's head against her chest. "Yeah. It's more than just the physical part. It's knowing that you are _always_ going to be there, always caring, always loving, always helping, always understanding. Touching you, kissing you, that's just the icing on the cake."

Miley's face got serious as she suddenly said, "Oooh! Your mom made a red velvet cake and left it for us!"

Lilly's eyes got big again. "Seriously?" she asked. Lilly loved red velvet cake, as did Miley. "Did she frost it and everything?"

Miley shook her head. "Nope. She took it out of the oven right before she left. She said we could frost it when it cooled down."

Lilly's smile widened. "Rock on," she said softly. "Double frosting?"

"Yeah. Cinnamon sprinkles after?" Miley replied.

Lilly nodded. "Race you."

"Two articles of clothing minimum?"

"Of course."

The challenge agreed upon, the girls exploded out of the bed, each grabbing a shirt and panties from Lilly's dresser, then racing down the stairs to the kitchen. Miley made it down the stairs first, but only because she jumped the last four steps. As they ran into the kitchen, Miley started jumping up and down, shaking her fists in the air. "I won!"

Lilly grinned and smacked Miley's nearly bare butt, getting a jump out of her girlfriend. "Yes, you certainly did. That means I get to feed the first piece to you when we're done."

Miley turned around, a huge grin on her face. "The prize just keeps getting better and better," she said.

Lilly opened the cabinet and pulled out two little jars of cream cheese icing, tossing one to Miley. "Yes, it certainly does," she said, a knowing smile on her face.

After the cake was frosted, Miley claimed her prize, and Lilly happily fed the first piece to her. They went into the den, where they sat on the couch, Miley leaning back against Lilly as they stretched out along the couch's length. They clicked on the television, flipping through the channels until they came across a talk show discussing Hannah Montana. As soon as Miley and Lilly heard that name, they turned the sound up slightly and set the remote down on the table.

This particular talk show had several female hosts who usually discussed topics as a group. At the moment, an older woman was saying, _"The talented teen singer has seen her popularity, which was already huge, grow even more since coming out as being in love with her best friend, who just happens to be a girl. Since then, the two have been inseparable in the public eye, appearing at concerts together, charity appearances together, and even hosting a reality show together. Is this a real case of unusual but true love, or is it a publicity stunt that might go horribly wrong?"_

A different host, a very attractive young blonde woman, said, _"Well, I personally am not as comfortable with the whole gay rights agenda that seems to be promoted by the media, but the times I've seen Hannah and her girlfriend Lola together, they really do seem like they're in love. There's this quality about them, the way they seem to smile when they're around each other, how they're constantly sneaking glances at each other... I mean, they're teenagers! It's just so cute to watch them interact, especially when they're not really aware of how they constantly try to be next to each other."_ She turned to look at another host, a slightly older woman with dark hair.

The dark-haired woman said, _"Well, I'd like to mention that even before the girls came out on national television, they've always been nearly inseparable at public appearances."_ As she started talking, the screen cut from the hosts to start showing video and still pictures from various concerts and appearances that Miley and Lilly had been at over the past four years. All the videos and pictures clearly showed the girls holding hands, hugging, leaning against each other, smiling and laughing together, or caught in some slightly embarrassing situation such as being covered in green paint. At that video, Lilly said, "Sorry," to Miley, getting a giggle from Miley in return. "Sheesh, are they _ever_ gonna get tired of that one?" Lilly said, rolling her eyes.

As the picture returned to the hosts sitting around their table, the dark-haired woman said, _"Would you like to guess at what all those pictures and videos had in common?"_ to the table in general. When no one answered, she said, _"All those were taken before the girls officially came out. So really, that attraction and these emotions have been there all this time, they just hadn't come right out and said it. But it's always been there, now that we know to look for it."_

Lilly said, "Wow, I didn't realize it had been that obvious for that long."

Miley was a bit amazed herself. "Yeah. Why didn't we see that?"

Lilly shrugged her shoulders, then said, "I guess we were too caught up in everything else to really pay attention to how we felt. And when I did realize how I felt about you, I was either afraid to say anything or one of us was too busy chasing boys to give it a chance."

Miley leaned back against Lilly, reaching back over her head and running her fingers through Lilly's hair. "I'm sorry for putting you through everything I did, Lilly."

Lilly smiled, enjoying Miley's touch. "I'm sorry too Miley, but we don't need to apologize any more for what's in the past. The only thing I'd like to change is that I wish I'd been honest with you sooner."

"Same here, Lilly," Miley said. She reached for the remote; grabbing it, she turned the talk show off. "We need to get in the shower sometime, since we have our big group date tonight, then we get our night together, with the house all to ourselves."

Lilly smiled, thinking ahead to the fun they were going to have. "Yeah, plus we have Hannah's concert in New Jersey tomorrow night, too. Are you going to tell me what big secret you have planned for that show or not?"

Miley said, "Not! It wouldn't be a secret then, would it?" When Lilly put her pout face on, Miley said, "I'll give you a hint." The pout face was immediately replaced by Lilly's sunny smile. "I'm acting on one of your suggestions you made to me last month. You said it would be neat to do a few cover songs, to have Hannah show respect for some other bands and singers."

Lilly nodded, saying, "Yeah, plus it'd be a good way for you to make a connection between Hannah and her fans' parents and older family members. You'd be singing songs that they'd already be familiar with, so they could instantly relate to what you were singing."

Miley said, "Well, I think I'm going to start doing that."

Lilly excitedly said, "Really? That's great!" She clapped her hands lightly, thrilled that Miley was acting on her suggestion.

Miley said, "Yeah, my band and I have been practicing on some songs that I know you like, and we're going to do a special one at the concert tomorrow night." She paused, looking Lilly in the eye. "My goal is to absolutely blow you away, lover," she said, a sparkle in her eye.

Lilly wrapped her arms around Miley. "Well, then, you achieved that goal quite some time back, Ms. Stewart," she said, hugging Miley warmly. As they relaxed the hug, Lilly suddenly yawned quite loudly. "Sorry," she said, still yawning.

Miley laughed as she said, "I think all the physical activity this morning has worn you out, Ms. Truscott."

Lilly nodded, adding, "Yeah, but that was an awesome way to get worn out," a grin firmly etched on her face.

Miley said, "Let's go lay back down for a few minutes. We have plenty of time before we have to start getting ready for tonight. I mean, it's only..." She searched for a clock, finally spying the one on the DVR. "Eleven-thirty. We've got plenty of time. I mean, we're not meeting at the bowling alley until four-thirty, and Jackson won't be home until three."

Lilly added, "And you know he won't be ready until right when it's time to go pick up Kaela," getting a giggle out of Miley. "I think they're sweet together," Lilly said.

Miley nodded. "I agree. Never thought I'd say this, but Jackson seems to be growing up some."

Lilly also agreed with that statement. Dating Kaela had been very good for Jackson. He could still be himself and act silly, but being with her made him want to be more responsible. "Kaela has been very good for him," Lilly said. "And she's so sweet."

Miley said, "Yeah. Think she'd make a nice sister-in-law?" she asked Lilly, smiling.

Lilly nodded. "I do. You think they're that serious about each other?"

Miley said, "Well, they've only been out a few times, so it'd be way too early to really think about that. But I think she'd be fun to have around more. And I've never seen Jackson act the way he has been. I mean, do crazy things to get a girl's attention? We've seen that way too many times. But I think he's trying to have a serious relationship, and I'm happy that he's finally realized that there's a difference between the two approaches."

Lilly said, "Oh, I definitely agree. Although he still has his moments."

Miley rolled her eyes as she said, "Oh yeah. You missed him and dad arguing yesterday about whether or not underwear was dirty if you only wore it one day."

"Ew." Lilly turned to look at Miley. "Seriously?" Miley nodded. "Must be a guy thing," Lilly said, not thrilled at even thinking about such a discussion.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," said Miley. Looking back at Lilly, she said, "Now it's time for my favorite patient to go take a little nap, so she's all better for our big night tonight. I don't want the date to tire you out too much, because I have some special things planned for you later tonight."

Lilly liked the grin on Miley's face at her last statement. "Special things, huh?" she asked, getting a animated nod from Miley. "Well then, lead the way, because we definitely need our rest, lover." She took Miley's hand as they stood up from the couch and walked back upstairs, where they climbed back into the bed. Miley fussed over Lilly's pillow, getting it just right for her partner, then she pulled the covers up around them as they curled next to each other, Lilly's left leg across Miley's hips and her left arm lightly draped across Miley's belly. They caught each other's eye and smiled, then they kissed softly and closed their eyes. Sleep overtook them swiftly, giving them several minutes of peaceful rest in each other's arms.

All too soon, the alarm clock went off, signaling them that it was twelve-thirty. Miley scratched her head as she opened her eyes and clicked the alarm button on the clock, ending its persistent buzzing. She sat up and said, "Lilly, we need to get in the shower. It's twelve-thirty." Lilly snoozed on, so Miley pinched her nose, holding it closed until Lilly snorted and woke up. "Time to wake up, dear," Miley said sweetly.

Lilly smiled at the beauty of Miley, sitting up in the bed beside her, her dark brown hair falling around her shoulders and chest, just barely reaching the top of her breasts. "Wow," she said, getting a giggle out of Miley. Lilly pulled herself up and hugged Miley, enjoying the scent of Miley's skin, her hair, her sweat, everything that was Miley. "Thank you for taking such good care of me, Miley," Lilly said tenderly.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Miley replied, just as tenderly. "Now let's get in the shower so we can start deciding what we want to wear tonight."

Lilly smiled as they climbed off the bed and walked down the hall to the bathroom. While the bathroom wasn't adjacent to Lilly's room, the other bedroom on this side of the house was an unused guest room, so Miley and Lilly considered this bathroom theirs. As Lilly started the shower, Miley used the bathroom, then the girls traded places as they usually did, with Miley stepping into the shower while Lilly finished. As Lilly joined her girlfriend in the shower, Miley passed her the shampoo. Miley leaned her head back under the cascade of water, thoroughly wetting her hair, then she held out her hand, palm up. Without any words being spoken, Lilly squirted some of the shampoo into Miley's hand, then she replaced the shampoo and grabbed the body scrubber and the body wash. As Miley worked the shampoo into her hair, Lilly began scrubbing her lover's wet body. The girls were well practiced at this routine, and other than a few playful caresses they were very efficient. In less than ten minutes, Miley's hair had been washed, rinsed, conditioned and rinsed again, and her body had been thoroughly cleaned. "Nice that you're washing more than my breasts now, Lil," Miley said with a grin, her smile sparkling as her chestnut hair fell in wet strands across her face.

Lilly leaned down and kissed one of the afore-mentioned parts of Miley's anatomy, getting a shudder from her lover despite the hot spray of water. As she straightened back up, Lilly said, "Still complaining about me focusing on your breasts, Miles?"

Miley shook her head and said, "Heck no!" That prompted a deep laugh from Lilly as she moved under the spray of water. Again, no words were needed as the two young women worked together to get Lilly thoroughly clean. They had learned early on to keep the type of shampoo, conditioner and body wash each of them liked at both of their houses; by now they didn't need to carry anything to either house to spend the night, as both of them kept enough at each location to function smoothly. Miley did let her hands "slip" a time or two as she washed Lilly's body, getting a little squeal each time from Lilly, who was trying to focus on her hair at the time.

When the girls were done washing their hair and bodies, they adjusted the spray to strike the wall at the end of the shower, providing heated steam to keep them warm but getting them out of the direct and the indirect spray of the water stream. Lilly sat down first, settling her back against the end of the tub between the wall and the off-set faucet. Miley popped the lid off the can of shaving gel and sprayed a line of it across her left hand. She then slowly began lathering up Lilly's legs, first her right, then her left. Once Lilly's legs were ready, Miley snapped a new blade on the razor and began gently shaving her lover's legs, taking long, slow strokes with the pink razor. While both of them disliked the time required to shave their legs, they also both liked the look and feel of smooth skin when they ran their hands across each other's legs. By shaving each other's legs, it became much less of a chore and much more of a sensual experience. Several times shaving became rather intense foreplay, resulting in the need to start again after taking a break to make love. This time, control barely won out over lust, as both girls knew it would take some time to settle on the perfect outfits for tonight. When Miley finished shaving Lilly's legs, Lilly spread her legs, offering Miley enough access to shave her pubic area. Neither girl was big on the totally bare look, but they did take pride in looking very neat and trimmed for each other. When Miley finished with Lilly, they switched places. Lilly moved a bit swifter than Miley did along the legs, but she took more time with Miley's pubic area, as she was extra careful not to nick her lover.

When the grooming was complete, the girls stood back up and stretched, then they rinsed the residue of shaving gel off their bodies. Miley replaced the razor and shaving gel as Lilly turned off the water. They stepped out and began drying off, putting on antiperspirant and brushing their teeth next. Once that was done, Lilly sat down and Miley began drying and styling her hair. Miley loved a few braids in Lilly's hair, so she made sure to work several of them into Lilly's blonde locks as she fixed Lilly's hair. When she was finished with Lilly, Miley sat down on the stool and Lilly went to work. Lilly gently and carefully curled Miley's hair, drying it softly and gently brushing it out as she went. When she was finished, Miley's hair was as glossy as Lilly's, her curls falling all around her beautiful face. As Lilly and Miley locked gazes in the mirror, Lilly said, "You look beautiful."

Miley smiled and reached up to take Lilly's hand and squeeze it. "Only because you did such an awesome job," she said.

Lilly helped Miley up, and the girls took a moment to drop their towels and kiss until they were breathless. As things started to heat up, Miley said, "If we don't get out of this steamy bathroom, our hair is going to frizz out." Lilly nodded, and they left the bathroom, holding hands as they walked down the hall. As they entered the bedroom, Lilly said, "And if we get in the bed, we're going to really mess our hair up."

Miley looked forlorn for a bit, then she said, "Then let's save all this energy for tonight." Lilly nodded. Miley said, "Okay, time to get serious. What are we going to wear?"

That simple question proved rather difficult to answer. After nearly an hour going through the clothes at the Truscotts' house, Miley and Lilly put on the best candidates they could find, then they hurried over to the Stewarts' house. There they went through the clothes in Miley's closet and dressers. After another hour, the girls were beginning to get a bit frustrated.

"What are we going to wear?" moaned Lilly. "I mean, where's that perfect outfit?"

Miley agreed. It was proving nigh impossible to find the perfect outfit. A knock at the bedroom door got the girls' attention. "Miley? Lilly?" Robbie Ray asked through the door. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, Daddy," Miley called out. The door opened and Robbie Ray stepped inside. "Woo wee!" he called out, marveling at the explosion of clothes spread around the room. "What happened, somebody bomb the Juniors' section at the mall?"

Miley didn't seem to find that comment particularly amusing. "We're having a hard time finding the perfect outfit." Lilly nodded her agreement.

"Why do you need the perfect outfit? Why don't you just wear something you like?" Robbie Ray asked.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "Mr. Stewart, you obviously aren't a girl, or you'd know how crazy that sounds."

Robbie Ray looked a bit confused at that statement, then he said, "Well, Lilly, you're right about me not bein' a girl, but how much time have you two spent tryin' to decide what to wear?"

Lilly started to answer him when Miley reached out and took her hand. "He may be right, Lilly," she said, causing Lilly to spin around. "I mean, who are we really dressing up for?" Miley said, looking at Lilly.

Lilly looked back at Miley and said, "Well, I'm dressing up for you."

Miley smiled and said, "And I'm dressing up for you. Are you going to be upset if I wear something you don't absolutely love?"

Lilly shook her head and said, "No, I love you no matter what you wear. And when you don't wear anything," she said, a sly grin on her face until she heard Robbie Ray clear his throat behind them. "Oops..." she said, blushing.

Miley was likewise turning quite red, and she tried to steer the conversation back to less dangerous terrain. "Same here, Lilly. I'm gonna love you no matter what you wear. So why are we driving ourselves crazy trying to find the perfect outfit? Why not just wear something we like?"

Lilly nodded her head. She turned to Robbie Ray and gave him a hug. "You're pretty smart, future dad-in-law!" she said cheerfully. With a quieter voice, she said, "Sorry about the no clothes comment."

Robbie Ray seemed to be blushing a bit as he said, "Thanks, darlin'." He paused, then he whispered to her, "Apology accepted." As Lilly released him from her hug, he walked out of the room, then he turned and said, "You ladies have fun tonight. I'll have my phone if you need anything. Now, ya'll are gonna be back around eight or so?"

Miley nodded. "Yeah, because we know you and Jackson are going to that late game in L.A."

"Okay, then you have fun, and I'll see you when you get back," he said, closing the door behind him.

"Your dad's pretty smart, Miles," Lilly said as she grabbed a simple t-shirt and red zip-up jacket to go with her jeans.

Miley nodded. "He has his moments," she said playfully. She stepped into a brown dress, patterned with swirls across it, and pulled it up. The bottom of the skirt fell right above her knees, prompting Lilly to whistle at her. "Nice legs, Stewart," Lilly said.

Miley twirled, flaring the skirt up to give her girlfriend a better view of her thighs. "All for you, Lilly," Miley said with a smile. She stepped over and sat down on the bed, with Lilly sitting next to her. The girls softly kissed, pulling closer to each other as they continued.

After a minute or two, the door to Miley's room burst open as Jackson barged in. "You girls-- Whoa!" he shouted, turning around.

"You could knock, Jackson!" Miley said, removing her hand from underneath Lilly's shirt.

Lilly slid her right hand out of Miley's skirt as she added, "But why Miley? He wouldn't embarrass himself as much then!"

Miley laughed at that. "True," she said. "Anyway, Jackson, you ready to go?"

Jackson carefully looked over his shoulder. "Are you two going to keep it in your pants?"

Miley stood up and walked to Jackson and smacked him on the shoulder. "Don't talk that way to my girlfriend! And I'm wearing a skirt, in case you didn't notice."

Lilly hopped up and strode over to him as well, then smacked his other shoulder. "And don't talk to _my_ girlfriend that way!" She turned to Miley and said, "That was fun. Can we smack him again?"

Miley said, "Probably not. He _is_ driving us, you know."

Jackson threw up his hands and said, "He _is_ right here, too!" His next words were cut off as Miley and Lilly both wrapped him up in a group hug. "What's that for?" he sputtered.

"Because we love you, big brother," said Lilly. Miley nodded her head and said, "Right, and because you're good to us now. Thanks for driving us tonight."

"Uh, you're welcome, and thanks," he said. Extricating himself from their embrace, he said, "I'm going to start the car. We can go get Kaela whenever you want."

As Jackson went outside, Miley grabbed her purse and handed Lilly her slim wallet. "You ready, girlfriend?" she asked Lilly.

"Born ready, girlfriend," Lilly replied, a smile on her face. She extended her hand; when Miley took it, they went outside, closing the door behind them. As they walked down the stairs, Lilly softly said, "And I noticed you were wearing a skirt."

Miley replied, "I could tell," as she smiled lovingly at Lilly.

The drive to Kaela's went very quickly. As soon as they pulled into the driveway, the front door swung open and Kaela came rushing out. She was wearing olive capri pants and a tan tank top, covered with a sheer floral print shirt. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail and fell below her shoulders, bobbing as she ran to the car. Jackson unlocked the door as she reached the vehicle, where she opened the door and dropped into the front seat beside him. "Hi Jackson!" she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "And hi Miley, Lilly!" she said, looking at the girls in the back seat.

"Hi Kaela," Jackson said, his cheek tingling from the kiss.

"Hi Kaela!" Miley and Lilly said in unison. "You look really nice, Kae," Lilly said. Miley added, "Jackson would have told you that, but I think the kiss on his cheek has left him at a loss for words."

Kaela grinned at Jackson as she said, "I think so too."

Miley and Lilly waved at Kaela's mom, who had stepped outside to wave goodbye. "Are we picking up Oliver, or are we meeting him and his date at the bowling alley?" Miley asked as Jackson backed the car out of the driveway.

Jackson said, "Well, he told me that his mom was taking him and his girl... what was her name again?"

"Lindsey," Lilly said. "Lindsey Hall."

"Right, Lindsey. Anyway, Oliver's mom was taking them on to the bowling alley, so they could make sure we got two lanes," Jackson finished explaining.

Miley whispered something into Lilly's ear, which got a rather loud response from Lilly. "Are you _serious_?" she yelled. When Miley nodded, Lilly said, "No. Way!"

Kaela spun around and excitedly said, "What, what?"

Lilly said, "Tell them who's meeting us at the bowling alley, Miles."

Miley smiled and said, "Jen Kittrell and Lee, her boyfriend."

Jackson glanced up in the mirror. "Um, why are they meeting us there, Miley?" he asked, turning a bit pale.

"Because they're going on the date with us, dummy!" Miley said, getting a giggle from Lilly.

"Not scared are you, Jackson?" Lilly asked with a cheerful voice.

Jackson glanced at Kaela and swallowed. "Who, me? Naw, not at all. I think Lee's a pretty cool guy."

"I wasn't talking about Lee," Lilly said in the same cheery voice.

Jackson looked back in the mirror momentarily. "Oh, Jen? Well... yeah, kinda," he admitted. "At least, I wouldn't want to fight her if I could get out of it."

"I love honesty," Kaela said, smiling as she ran her left hand through the back of Jackson's hair. Miley and Lilly caught each other's eye and grinned at the display of affection.

"You two are a cute couple," Lilly said suddenly. Miley nodded and added, "Yeah, you really are. And I'm happy for you two. Kaela, my brother can be a handful at times, but you do quite well with him."

Kaela smiled at Jackson as she said, "He's sweet. He's just still got some boy at heart, and I think that's cute."

"Did I ever tell you about the time Miley tried to hit Jackson with the fish, Kaela?" Lilly asked.

At that, both Miley and Jackson said, "Don't you dare!" Lilly promptly ducked before Miley could grab her, but Miley changed tactics and simply fell on top of Lilly, tickling her. "Oh no, Lilly, they've not been dating _that_ long yet!" she said as her hands worked Lilly over.

Soon enough, they were at the bowling alley. As Jackson parked the car, all of them climbed out. Kaela stretched, popping her back slightly. She was the tallest of the four of them, standing several inches taller than Miley and even Jackson. Lilly didn't really care that she was the shortest of them, as long as she had Miley by her side, and the difference in height between her and Miley was only an inch or two anyway. Their lips met just fine when they kissed, as far as Lilly was concerned.

As they reached the door, Jackson politely held it open for Kaela to enter, then for Lilly and Miley. As their eyes adjusted to the dimness inside the bowling alley, they walked cautiously to the counter to check in. Miley said, "I've got this one, everybody. What shoes do you need, Kaela?" Once Kaela whispered what size shoes she wore to Miley, Miley smiled and said, "Okay, go find Oliver and Lindsey, you two."

Lilly stood beside Miley as Kaela and Jackson walked off toward the lanes. "I hope Jackson realizes how lucky he's got it to be dating Kaela," she said.

Miley agreed completely. "Yeah, she's absolutely gorgeous. Plus she's really nice. That boy needs to be good to her."

Lilly said, "I agree completely, Ms. Stewart." When the clerk served them, they got shoes for everyone and Miley paid for two games for all eight of them. As Miley put her change back into her purse, Lilly said, "Oh great," as she looked over Miley's shoulder.

Miley turned to follow Lilly's line of sight and said, "Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me." Walking toward them was a small crowd of about a dozen of their classmates, mostly girls but with a few boys mixed in. And at the center of the crowd, Amber and Ashley giggled as they chatted with several of them.

Lilly said, "Let's go sit down, maybe they won't be anywhere near us." Miley nodded and scooped up the shoes, then they turned and hurried to their lanes before the small crowd reached the counter. As they reached the seats for their lanes, Oliver stood up and said, "Hey you two! I'd like to introduce you to my date for tonight, Lindsey Hall."

Miley dropped the pile of shoes onto floor in front of the seats, then she said, "Hi Lindsey! I'm Oliver's friend Miley Stewart, and this is my girlfriend..."

"Lilly Truscott," Lilly said, neatly finishing Miley's sentence. "Miley and Oliver and I have been friends for a long time."

Lindsey was about Lilly's height, maybe an inch shorter. She had jet black hair that fell right to her shoulders, parted in the center of her face and pulled back with several hair clips on each side of her bangs. In the lights of the bowling alley, the glittering clips sparkled constantly, giving the impression of stars set in a night sky. She smiled at the introductions and said, "It's great to meet you two. I've seen you around at school, of course, but I don't think I've ever had a chance to meet either of you yet."

Miley started to say something, but Lilly beat her to it. "Same here, Lindsey. Now, I assume Oliver _has_ told you that Miley and I are a couple, right? And that we're completely and totally head over heels in love with each other?"

Lindsey grinned as she said, "Well, not in those exact words, but yes, he has told me. And I'm totally cool with that. I kinda already knew, to tell you the truth."

Miley laughed, saying, "Well, it's not exactly a big secret." Lilly laughed as well as she took Miley's hand and said, "I'm going to the bathroom, sweetheart."

At that, Kaela said, "Oh, I'll go with you, Lil, 'cause I need to go too!" She and Lilly hurried off in the direction of the bathrooms.

Miley sat down and started putting on her bowling shoes. "Oh, just a warning," she said. "When we were paying, Lilly and I saw trouble coming in. But hopefully they'll be on the other side of the alley." When she straightened back up, she was at eye level with Ashley, sitting not fifteen feet away at the next two lanes, her eyes fixed on Miley. "Great," Miley muttered.

**Author's Afterword:** Sorry for it taking a day longer for this chapter. I'm working on the next chapter right now, and I plan on having it up by Sunday. The date continues, and Miley and Lilly get their special night together. Wonder what will happen?

-- Jo --


	8. Chapter 8: From the Heart

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the sweet reviews! I'm so glad everyone is still enjoying my story. Sorry it's taking a bit longer to write these, but work has been very bad for three weeks now. Give me about four or five days between updates instead of three or four, please. I hate doing that, but I have to have time to proofread and edit them, because they have to be right! Otherwise Miley and Lilly might get mad. Please see Chapter 1 for my standard disclaimers!

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 8: From the Heart

_Electrified_

_I'm on a wire_

_Gettin' together_

_And we're on fire_

_--_Hannah Montana"I Got Nerve"

As Miley and Ashley locked eyes across a row of seats, all Miley could hope for was that things wouldn't degenerate too quickly. She knew that things were probably going to get bad, but maybe their group date wouldn't be ruined. _Yeah, right. _

"What's up, Miles?" Oliver asked, looking at Miley intently.

Miley's gaze never left Ashley, who was shaking Amber at this point. "Trouble's found us, Oliver," she said, her voice low and concerned. He looked along her line of sight, then he saw what Miley was talking about.

Amber and Ashley started across the floor, coming toward Miley and her friends. Right as the two troublemakers stopped a few feet in front of Miley, she stood up. _If they want to start something, I'm sure as heck not backing down from them, _she thought. Before she spoke, she felt a familiar hand gently settle itself in the small of her back, and Miley smiled. _Two on two. I like these odds better._

Lilly spoke first. "Wow, what a coincidence running into you two here," she said neutrally.

"How's the head, Truscott?" Amber said, spitting out the words. "Got any good concussions lately?"

Miley opened her mouth to say something, but Kaela cut her off. "How's the face, Amber? Got your head shoved into any toilets lately?" she said, her voice cold and hard as steel. "If you and Ashley didn't learn anything last night, I guess we could repeat the lesson tonight."

The fury on Amber's face was clearly evident as she clenched and unclenched her fists. "I'd sure like to see you try it, Kaela. This time you and your lesbian soccer friends don't have us outnumbered ten to one."

Kaela took a step forward, saying, "Well, your first mistake is that I'm not a lesbian. As a matter of fact, most of us on the soccer team aren't gay or bisexual. But if it meant I could find someone who loves me as much as Miley and Lilly love each other, I think I'd play for the other team in a heartbeat. And your second mistake is that you're still outnumbered, you just don't realize it yet."

Amber's face curled into a smile, but there was absolutely no warmth to be felt from it. "Is that so?" she said coldly. "I seem to have several more people behind me than you have behind you, the last time I counted."

Miley spoke up now. "Amber, even you can't be stupid enough to start something here. We came here for the same reason that you and your friends did, to have fun. If you keep this up, you're going to mess up not only our group date but all your friends' plans too."

By now, several of the girls and some of the boys behind Amber and Ashley were starting to ease forward, stopping right behind Amber. Lilly and Miley refused to back away, though. In fact, Lilly put her arm around Miley, appearing totally at ease with the situation. That in particular seemed to infuriate Amber. "What are you so calm about, Truscott? You're about a minute away from really getting hurt!"

At that threat, Miley stepped in front of Lilly. "So help me, Amber, if you so much as touch Lilly, I'll make you regret it!" she said fiercely.

Amber leaned forward, daring Miley to do something. "What are you gonna do, Stewart, take a swing at me?" she said, laughing.

A voice behind Amber said, "No, but she _will_ watch _me_ kick your ass." Amber spun around, freezing when she saw she was looking directly in Jen Kittrell's face, bright green eyes framed by her short blonde bangs. Directly behind Jen was her fiancée Lee Potson, who was well positioned to deal with several of Amber and Ashley's supporters himself. Jen walked forward, going directly between Amber and Ashley as she dropped her purse on the seat behind Lilly. Now standing beside Miley and Lilly, she turned and said, "Now what the hell are you two doing messing with my friends?"

When Jen showed up, most of Amber and Ashley's support trickled away. While a few of them might have been malicious enough to start a fight with Miley, Lilly, Kaela, Jackson, Oliver and Lindsey as the targets, none of them wanted to take a chance on the new odds, which now included Jen and Lee. Ashley looked distraught as her and Amber's posse walked off, sitting back down or finding something more interesting to deal with. Amber was, predictably, angry as all her backup left her. She turned to Jen, her mouth getting the better of her. "How did you keep from getting kicked out of school after that shit you pulled at the soccer game last night?" she yelled at Jen.

Jen said, "What, dealing with those bitches you sent after my teammate? I guess the school superintendent realized that the game had gotten out of control, and that someone had to get things calmed down. And did I mention that the super's granddaughter goes to Seaview?" She started forward when Lilly stepped in front of her.

"I can handle this, Jen, but thank you," Lilly said as she got directly in Amber's face. "You didn't have the guts to come after me yourself, Amber, so don't even try to act all tough now." She put her hands on her hips, then continued, "I know why you hate Miley and me so much, you know."

"Do tell," Amber said, sneering.

Lilly smiled, then she held up her left hand, wiggling her fingers as she showed her engagement ring off. "Miley and I love each other in a way you'll never know, and you resent us for that."

"As if, Truscott!" Amber said.

Lilly nodded her head. "Deny all you want, but I don't believe it. I don't see your friend Ashley stepping up to defend you, do I? Or any of your so-called friends?" Letting silence put proof to her words, she then said, "Amber, you might find this hard to believe, but Miley and I really don't want to start some war with you. Or I guess, we don't want to continue one, since you've already started it. All we really want is to be happy with each other, have fun with our friends and not deal with all your attitude when we're at school. You're not any better than any of us, and you can just drop your attitude any time you want."

Amber angrily replied, "I am _too_ better than you, Truscott! Have _you_ ever had the chance to sing with Hannah Montana?" The smile that crossed Lilly's face at that comment only made Amber angrier. "Well, we all know what kind of singing voice you really have, don't we?" she said with a laugh.

Lilly continued to smile as she said, "Well, my singing has gotten a bit better, but why would I want to sing with Hannah Montana when I can sing with the woman I love?" She reached back and took Miley's hand, and Miley stepped forward, slipping her arm around Lilly's back to indicate her support. Lilly glanced at Miley, then she turned back to Amber and said, "Amber, all that anger you have is going to eat you up from the inside. You really need to try to find out why it's there and do something about it before it ruins you." Lilly turned her back on Amber and said to her friends, "C'mon, let's get out of here and go get something for dinner. I'm afraid if we hang around here it'll put a damper on our mood, and I don't want that."

Miley said, "You know I'm with you, lover," and the others all agreed. As they gathered up their belongings and switched shoes back to their own footwear, Oliver and Jackson returned the rental shoes.

As the group exited the bowling alley, Jen said, "So where to, Truscott?" Lilly grinned at Miley as she said, "Well, we could always go to the Karaoke Cafe," she said jokingly.

Miley rolled her eyes at the inside joke when Kaela said, "Hey, that sounds fun!" Before Jackson could try to deflect the idea, Lindsey also added, "Yeah! I've wanted to go there since it opened last month!" She turned to Oliver and said, "Please? I'd really like to go."

Miley gave Lilly a look that said _What have you done? _Lilly mouthed, "Sorry," to Miley.

Jen said, "Nice idea, Truscott. You going to serenade your girl when we get there?"

Lilly grinned, but then she surprised Miley when she said, "I might just do that, Jen." Now Miley really had a puzzled look on her face. After all, she had been practicing with Lilly on her singing, and Lilly was doing much better since she had started using a breathy spoken-word type voice, but it didn't really lend itself to many songs. Lilly must have something specific in mind.

As the group split up into two different packs to ride to the Cafe, Miley and Lilly piled in the car with Jackson and Kaela, expecting Oliver and Lindsey to go with Jen and Lee. However, they once again underestimated Jen's intimidating presence. As Jackson started the car, a knock on the back window made Miley turn her head. Standing outside were Oliver and Lindsey, looking a bit pitiful. Miley rolled down the window so Oliver could say something.

"Can we please ride with you?" Oliver asked. "I mean, Jen and Lee are leaving right now." Miley started to say something when Lilly gently ran her fingers across Miley's right ribs, getting a giggle from Miley. Now smiling, Miley said, "Sure, hop on in." She scooted over and slid into Lilly's lap, making Lilly very happy.

"Thanks," said Oliver, moving aside to let Lindsey enter first. She did so, then realized that she was right next to a very large pile of Miley and Lilly, giggling as they tickled each other. She smiled, trying to not be too obvious about keeping her distance.

Lilly saw Lindsey shift uncomfortably and said, "Lindsey, if we're too close to you, please just say so. We know that not everyone is as comfortable about same-sex couples as our friends and families are. We try really hard to not get offended about that stuff, honest."

Miley added, "Well, unless someone is being mean or ugly. Then we try to put a stop to it." Lilly nodded in agreement. Miley turned to look down into Lilly's face as she said, "After all, I won't let anyone be mean to my Lilly Bear," gently caressing Lilly's cheek with her right hand.

Jackson pulled onto the highway as he said, "Oh no, don't start, you two. I already had to nearly pull you off each other right before we left, so don't start humping each other in the back seat."

"Jackson!" Miley, Lilly and Kaela all exclaimed simultaneously, amusement in Miley's and Lilly's voice but real anger in Kaela's. Kaela continued, "That was not very nice! Miley is your sister and Lilly is going to be your sister-in-law. Well, she pretty much is already, but you know what I mean!" Her outburst was halted when Miley gently laid a hand on Kaela's left shoulder.

"It's okay, Kaela, he was mostly kidding," Miley said. "Plus, we do have a tendency to get carried away when we really get into each other, and we don't--" Lilly's giggling interrupted Miley's statement. "What's so funny?" she said, not catching the double meaning of her words until right then. "OH!" she exclaimed, turning red. "No no, I didn't mean it like that!" she said, loudly. By now, the whole car was laughing loudly, even Miley and Lilly.

"Nice one, Miles," Lilly said. "Haven't seen your face turn that red since, well, this morning. Right before we got in the shower." That statement made Miley redden slightly more, but the smile never left her face. Lindsey in particular was laughing hard, her earlier awkwardness forgotten.

Miley turned back to Lilly and said, "Well, my dear, you turned bright red several times this morning, as I recall." She smiled a sneaky smile as she leaned down and quickly kissed Lilly on the lips.

Lindsey's curiosity got the best of her, and she asked, "Uh, how many times today have you two... you know, had sex?'

Miley's eyes never left Lilly's as she softly said, "We've made love three times today." Lilly quickly added, "So far."

Lindsey's eyes got big as she said, "WOW!" Kaela's head spun around as she looked back at Miley and Lilly. "Good Lord, what are you two, in heat or something?"

Now Lilly turned red to match Miley. "I guess something like that," she said, still looking lovingly into Miley's eyes. "Can we not focus on mine and Miley's sex life, please? I mean, it's awesome, but there's got to be something more interesting for everyone to talk about."

Jackson turned on the radio to try and get his sister and Lilly off the proverbial hook. As the radio came on, Hannah Montana's "Who Said" sang out of the car's speakers. Instantly, Lilly started singing along, as she certainly knew all the words by heart. Miley hummed along with her, not wanting to show everyone that her voice was identical to Hannah's. Surprisingly, Kaela and Lindsey both started singing along, too. That continued for the rest of the song, the results not particularly harmonious but certainly fun.

As the song went off, Lilly said, "I didn't realize you liked Hannah Montana, Kaela. Or you either, Lindsey."

Kaela said, "Oh, I love her. Her songs are just really neat. They're always so positive and lots of them are very romantic, too."

Lindsey nodded her agreement. "I totally agree, Kaela," she said. "My mom always records _Oprah_, and I got to watch that episode where Hannah proposed to her girlfriend on live TV. That was really neat." She pointed to the rings on Miley's and Lilly's hands and said, "Are you two engaged? To each other, I mean?" When the girls nodded, she asked, "When did you get engaged?"

Miley and Lilly had already rehearsed this question long ago, and it gave them no trouble at all now. Miley said, "It was actually the same day as Hannah and Lola, believe it or not! Our proposal just got quite a bit less attention than theirs did." Lilly added, "But it meant just as much to me as theirs did to them, Miley." Miley smiled as she looked back into the eyes of the only person she would ever love in a romantic or sexual way. "Same here, lover," she said with her sultry voice. She softly said, "Sorry, but I can't help it right now," then she leaned down and kissed Lilly deeply for several seconds.

As they finally broke the kiss, Kaela fanned herself and said, "Okay Jackson, I hope we're almost there, because it's getting pretty hot in this car!" Right then they turned into the parking lot of the Karaoke Cafe. "Yay!" Kaela said. "I'm getting hungry too. This should be fun. What time are you and your dad leaving tonight?" she asked Jackson.

"Well, I need to be home sometime around eight or so," he replied. "So we have plenty of time. I thought we might check out a movie, too."

"Resident Evil! It's still playing at the dollar movies!" Lilly yelled, nearly deafening Miley. "If that's okay with you, Miley," she added.

Miley smiled. "If you want to see it, that's good enough for me, hon." Left unspoken was that scary movies tended to make Miley curl up very close to Lilly, something that both of them enjoyed. As Jackson turned off the car, Miley reached across Lilly and opened the door. Lilly turned to allow Miley to climb out first, then Miley turned and helped Lilly out. Oliver helped Lindsey out in the same fashion, while Kaela and Jackson were both already out and walking toward the restaurant.

The Karaoke Cafe was brightly lit, with neon on quite a few exterior surfaces. The outer look was very reminiscent of a Fifties' era diner, but on a much grander scale than anything from the Fifties would have been. As they reached the door, Miley stepped forward and opened the door for Lilly, who thanked her girlfriend for the courtesy as she walked inside.

Kaela said, "I still think that's so neat how you two handle that." Lindsey looked at her, not understanding. Kaela turned to Lindsey and said, "They take turns doing things like opening doors for each other. Since they're both girls and happy with that, they try to stay equal in the relationship rather than one taking the boy role and the other the girl role."

Lindsey nodded, getting it now. She leaned to Oliver and whispered, "How long have they been together, Oliver?"

Oliver whispered back, "You mean Miley and Lilly?" Lindsey nodded. Oliver said, "A little over two months now. Almost three, maybe."

"That's all?" Lindsey said, confused. "I mean, I know they didn't come out at school until September of this year, but most people think they've been dating secretly for a lot longer." She turned to regard the young couple, holding hands as they chatted easily with Lee and Jen while they waited on a table large enough to seat everyone. "I sure thought they'd been together at least a year, maybe longer. I mean, they're engaged and everything! Do you know how many people at Seaview are engaged?"

Oliver thought a minute and said, "I can think of six, counting Miley and Lilly."

Lindsey looked at him and said, "You know, that's just creepy how you can do that." Oliver shrugged. Lindsey smiled and said, "But it's really cool, too." As Oliver smiled and blushed slightly, Lindsey continued. "They're not even sixteen yet; how can they make a decision as important as whom they want to be with for the rest of their lives?"

Oliver sat down, motioning for Lindsey to sit beside him, which she did. "I asked Lilly that one time, right after they proposed to each other. Her answer was, 'We've always been with each other, Oliver. It just took some time to realize exactly how much we loved each other.' And when she said that, I realized she was right. They really have been with each other all along. When I talked to Miley about it, she said, 'Everyone else we ever dated was a mistake. I mean, we were falling for how cute boys were, but we didn't realize that we both wanted something more than cute. We wanted someone to share everything with, good, bad, happy, sad, everything. And we already had that in each other.'" He paused. "Miley also said that when she realized just how she felt about Lilly, she was scared to tell her. And of course Lilly felt the same way. It was pretty ironic, that the two who shared everything took a while to share the real depths of their feelings for each other." He looked back at his two best friends, now playing around as they held microphones up to each other's mouth, acting like they were singing. "It was really hard for me, because I knew both of them were keeping something from the other, but it wasn't my place to tell them. Then one Saturday I get this call from Lilly, telling me to come over to Miley's. And when I get there, I almost catch them making out. So when they told me that they were a couple as of the night before, I was so happy I couldn't see straight." Oliver smiled at the pleasant memory. "Linds, those two girls have been my best friends for a long time. I've known Lilly since we were four, and Miley fell right in with the two of us when she moved here four years ago after her mom died."

"I didn't know about that," Lindsey said quietly, looking at the brunette who was laughing about something with Lilly and Kaela, apparently at Jackson's expense from the look on his face. "Is that why her family moved out here?"

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, that was the main reason, plus her dad is a songwriter, and there's a lot more business out here than there was in Tennessee. He did really good in the country music market, but I think he kinda got burned out and wanted to write other songs."

Lindsey found her opinion of Miley and Lilly changing. She liked Oliver, but she had been somewhat uncomfortable about being on a date with two lesbians. However, she now saw that she been making a big mistake in choosing to see Miley and Lilly as "two lesbians" rather than as the teenagers they were, friendly, smart, funny, and above all else happy. The more she listened to them interact with each other and the more Oliver filled in the blanks about their stories, the more she realized that Miley and Lilly were a special couple. Just this last hour had convinced Lindsey that they really loved each other in a very intense way. A thought occurred to her just then. "Oliver?" she asked her date.

"Yeah Linds?" Oliver answered, as everyone started signaling for them to stand up and go to their table, which was now ready.

"What are their birthdays? Miley and Lilly, I mean."

Oliver said, "Lilly's is the seventeenth, and Miley's is the nineteenth. Of November, both of them. They were born in the same year, too. Tonight is kind of a birthday party for them."

Lindsey thought on that as the eight of them walked to their table, situated in the main room but rather far from the stage. As everyone took their seats around the large round table, she watched Lilly pull out Miley's seat for her, then help her fiancée scoot in towards the table. Next to the two of them, Lee did the same for Jen. Jackson forgot to do it for Kaela, but she didn't seem to mind. And Lindsey herself pulled out her own chair rather than give Oliver time to do it for her, which he seemed a bit oblivious to.

Everyone made a grab for the menus, both the menu for food and the song menu. "Wow!" Lilly said. "This song menu is huge!" She and Miley were both poring over the selections, when Lilly said, "Oh my gosh, I think they have every Hannah Montana song she's released!"

Lindsey checked the song menu Oliver was looking over. It was impressive, but she quickly got lost trying to find which version of which song interested her. Far more interesting was the food menu, and she saw that pretty much everyone besides Miley and Lilly was also checking out the dinner menu. "You two not getting anything to eat?" Lindsey asked Lilly and Miley.

The girls looked up from the song menu, smiling. Lilly said, "We already know what we want, Lindsey." Miley looked at Lilly and said, "Yeah, we decided what we want before we left the house."

_That's interesting_, Lindsey thought. "What if they don't have what you picked?"

Lilly laughed, then she said, "Well, we kinda know what our second and third choices are gonna be, too." Miley whispered something to Lilly, getting a giggle out of the blonde with the sunny disposition and the infectious smile.

Once dinner was ordered, everyone situated their chairs so they could watch the guests performing. Miley, as expected, refrained from singing any songs, even though Kaela and Lindsey both were suggesting she get up there. Miley just shrugged and said that she left singing in public to Hannah Montana, which got knowing laughs from Jackson, Oliver and Lilly as well as other laughs from the others at the table. However, the next performer caught everyone off guard. Everyone except one.

The announcer's voice clearly rang out inside the dining room. _"Is there a Lilly Truscott here?"_

Lilly raised her hand and stood. Miley was very surprised at this; while Lilly's singing had improved, she hadn't mentioned that she'd be singing tonight. In fact, it seemed that everyone on the date was a bit too self-conscious to karaoke tonight. Miley certainly had no qualms about singing in public, but she was unwilling to participate for obvious reasons.

Lilly bent down and said softly to Miley, "Wish me luck, lover. This song's for you, and I hope I can do half as good a job as you do." She kissed Miley quickly on the lips, then she started walking to the stage.

"_Lilly will be singing the song 'Imperfectly' by Veruca Salt. Let's all give her a big hand for singing with us tonight!"_

Miley had listened to this song many times with Lilly, and she felt cold chills run up her spine already. The song would be perfect for Lilly's soft voice, as the vocals were near-whispers. It was a very stark, emotional song, and the fact that Lilly had chosen to sing it was just another indication of how deeply she loved Miley. In the song, the singer pledged herself to her lover with raw, painful emotion, facing and naming her own flaws but holding onto her love tightly enough to surpass all of them. Miley had often said the short, simple song was one of the most beautiful songs she had ever heard, as well as one of the most emotionally raw. Lilly had known that all too well when she had picked it to sing, and now Miley found herself breathless in anticipation. _I'm going to love it no matter what, _she thought,_ because Lilly is singing it for me. __To__ me. _

As Lilly climbed the steps up to the stage, she took the microphone and quickly said, "I'm singing this song for someone very special to me, whose birthday is coming up next week. Here's your first birthday present. I love you, Miley," she said, giving a quick wave toward their table as the stagehand pointed out the monitor to Lilly. She didn't need it, but she politely looked and thanked him anyway.

As the music started playing, Miley focused on Lilly, blocking out everything else. Music had always had a powerful emotional impact on Miley, and the gentle music commanded her attention completely. As Lilly began singing the first lyrics, her eyes never left Miley's. She sang softly, her voice firm but nearly a whisper, exactly as she was wanting. The sound engineer adjusted the volume to boost her voice slightly, but Miley didn't notice at that point. She felt tears start to well up in her eyes at the stark beauty of the song, and at the courage Lilly was exhibiting by singing in public, as well as choosing this particular song to sing. As Lilly finished the first chorus and began the second verse, Miley stood without even realizing it. In the back of her mind, she knew Oliver was saying something to her, but she ignored it, instead slowly making her way to the stage, walking as if in a daze as she focused totally on her lover, singing to her and to no one else. When Miley reached the stage, she just stood there, watching Lilly.

Lilly smiled as she continued to sing, watching Miley come to the stage like she was mesmerized. When Miley reached the stage, Lilly had just started singing the second chorus. She dropped to her knees and cupped Miley's head with her left hand, holding her face softly as she continued to sing. _I'm so glad this is a short song, because I can't hold these tears back much longer, _she thought as she continued to sing, finishing the second chorus. The music intensified slightly as she finished the chorus, and Lilly continued to sing the few remaining words in the song, eyes locked with Miley's, her girlfriend's tears evident this close. As the song ended, Lilly leaned down and kissed Miley gently, placing the microphone on the stage as she wrapped her arms around Miley.

The crowd's applause was loud and boisterous, with several people whistling and cheering. As Miley and Lilly stood still, Miley whispered, "Is what it's like when I'm singing to you? Is it that emotional?" Lilly smiled and said, "Every time, Miley. Every single time." They kissed again, then Lilly slid off the front of the stage to walk back to the table with Miley, holding hands as they walked.

When they reached the table again, Miley held Lilly's seat for her, then scooted her girlfriend into the table. By now the food had arrived, and everyone was starving. Lilly tore into the food with glee, getting a look of shock from Lindsey, who had never seen Lilly eat before. Seeing Lindsey's expression, Miley said jokingly, "You should see her when she's really hungry."

"I think I might be scared to see that," Lindsey said. It wasn't exactly clear if she was joking or not.

"Damn, Truscott!" Jen said. "How is it you keep looking so good when you eat like that?"

Kaela piped up, "I think it's all the physical activity she and Miley do!" Lilly choked just a bit at that comment, and Miley helpfully slapped her back a few times, trying to keep from blushing herself. Her efforts were for naught however, as Kaela continued, "They've already had sex-- Sorry, _made love_ three times today."

Miley had no desire to deny it; in fact, she was proud of how much she and Lilly desired each other, that was part of their amazing relationship. She did speak up though, saying, "Thanks for correcting that, Kae. Lilly and I both think there's a definite difference between 'having sex' and 'making love.' The first one you can have without love or tenderness, while the second one requires those feelings between two people, making it more intimate, more special."

Lilly had apparently swallowed her food, as she then said, "Yeah, a totally huge difference! When I'm with Miley, it's like we become the same person. Our hearts beat the same, we breath the same, we feel each other so closely and so intensely... I mean, you just can't describe it and do it justice!" She looked at her lover and couldn't help but grin. "We're so lucky to have that," she said, loud enough for everyone to hear but intended only for Miley.

Miley smiled and leaned in, kissing Lilly for a few seconds. "Yes, we are," she said quietly, then she threw her arms around Lilly and hugged her tightly.

"Awwww," said Jen. "The lovebirds are being all sweet!' Laughter spread around the table at the sarcastic comment, which everyone realized was said without any malicious intent.

Oliver took that moment to ask a question to Jen. "So Jen, are they going to let you play in the district championship?"

Jen nodded her head. "I wasn't kidding about the super being at the Oaks game. Seems his granddaughter, who's a freshman at Seaview, took a shot from one of the Oaks players, and he was pissed about it. So when I handed out my own style of justice, he decided to cut me some slack. I'm still suspended from school for three days—well, two more days after today—but I get to play in the game at the end of next week, since I'll be back in school by then."

"That's great!" Jackson said. "Man, you girls are _so_ going to win that championship!"

"That's the plan," Jen said. "I meant it when I said I was leaving high school with a championship, even if I have to kick some asses to get it!" As everyone laughed, they resumed eating dinner, with conversation more sporadic until they left.

As they walked to the cars, Jackson said, "So, Lee, Jen, I think the girls want to go see a movie. You two up for that?"

Lee shook his head. "Nah, but thanks. We've got plans for tonight." He stopped walking and shook hands with Jackson. "We had a good time tonight, Stewart. See you around."

Jackson smiled and said, "Same here, Lee. If I can ever do anything for you, just let me know, okay?" Lee nodded, then walked off.

At the same time, Jen was saying good night to the others. Miley and Lilly both leaned forward and hugged her, regardless of the potential consequences. As the girls pulled away, the expression on Jen's face was priceless, captured somewhere beyond disbelief and shock. "You know," she said, "I usually knock the hell out of people who touch me without me asking them." Miley and Lilly tried to look chastised, but they were unable to suppress their grins. Jen then smiled and said, "I guess I can make an exception for you two, though. Stewart, Truscott, you're sweet. You just keep taking care of each other, and if anyone gives you grief for it, tell 'em to go to hell!"

Lilly nodded her head and said, "We will Jen. Taking care of Miley is my full-time job!"

Miley looked at Lilly with her own expression of disbelief. "Lilly, _you're_ the one who keeps getting into trouble! I have to take care of you!"

Lilly grinned as she put her arms around Miley's waist, pulling her closer. "And you love it, Miley. Don't you?" she asked, her eyes twinkling.

Miley grinned in return as she said, "Yeah. I do." She brushed one of Lilly's braids away from in front her face as she said, "In fact, I plan on doing it the rest of my life."

Oliver and Lindsey watched the exchange from a few feet away. "That's so romantic," Lindsey said. "And I never thought I'd say that about two women."

Oliver gently put his arm around Lindsey as they started walking to the car. "Miley and Lilly have that effect on people," he said. "Something about their love is so pure, so real, you just can't help but feel good about them once you get to know them."

"They're good people, too," Lindsey said as they walked. Jen had waved goodnight and was hurrying to Lee's car, eager to get to whatever they had planned for the rest of the evening. Lindsey saw Kaela walk up to Jackson and take his hand, swinging her arm happily as she forced him to do the same. "This has been a good evening, Oliver," she said, looking up at Oliver.

Oliver's feelings for Lindsey were definitely growing. She was very attractive, but she was shy, which caused her to be reserved when around others. But just this short time with her made Oliver think that maybe there was something special about her. Only time would tell. He looked at Lindsey as he said, "So have I, Linds. Up for that movie?" She nodded as they reached the car.

"Resident Evil!" Lilly yelled, grabbing Miley's ribs from behind as they walked to the car, getting a shriek from her girlfriend. "Ready to be scared, Miles?" she said, teasingly.

Miley slid in as Lilly held the door open for her. "Ready to be held and protected is more like it, Lilly," she said, smiling.

"I can do that," Lilly said as she sat down and closed the car door, already hoping the movie was going to be extra scary.

After the movie was over, everyone was ready for more fun but Lilly, Miley, Jackson and Kaela were on a schedule. "Oken, hate to tell you this, but I've got to get back to the house," Jackson said. "Dad and I are going to a ballgame later tonight, in L.A."

Oliver said, "No problem, Jackson. Miles and Lil had already told me about that, so it's okay." He turned to look at Lindsey, then he said, "Want to call your mom and see if maybe we could rent a movie and watch it at your house?" She nodded, then opened her cellphone to call.

Everyone piled back into the car. Lindsey's mom had said no to any further plans this evening, but she didn't seem particularly upset. In fact, Oliver expected she was happy that Lindsey was getting home so early. Once they arrived at Lindsey's house, he walked her to her front door, then waved goodnight as she went inside. Kaela was the next to be dropped off. At her house, her mom came out and met Jackson and Kaela halfway to the door. Jackson continued to walk her on to the door, then he hugged her goodnight. A few minutes later, Oliver's house came into sight. The ongoing analysis of the evening came to a close as Oliver stepped out, waved and told everyone goodnight.

Just two minutes later, they pulled into the Stewarts' driveway. Jackson checked his clock. "Fifteen 'til eight! Yes!" he said happily.

"Yay!" Miley and Lilly both said, genuinely glad to be home. They had a wonderful time with everyone this evening, but now they were wanting some alone time. Jackson opened the door and yelled, "Look who's home early, old man!"

Robbie Ray was sitting at the piano, apparently working on a song when the three of them entered. "Hey everybody!" he said, standing and shuffling his notes. He put them back into a folder and replaced the folder on the shelf by the stairs. "Ya'll are sure back early," he said.

Miley said, "We had a great time, Daddy. Lilly sang a song for me at the Karaoke Cafe!"

Robbie Ray's expression carefully stayed neutral, as he remembered the last time he had heard Lilly sing. "I'm sure it was great, Lilly," he said, putting on a smile.

"No, Daddy," Miley said, obviously frustrated, "She did a really good job! I mean, her voice has gotten a lot better. She's been practicing!" Miley walked over to Lilly and hugged her, proud of her girlfriend.

Jackson said, "She really did do a good job, Dad. Surprised the heck outta me!" Miley swatted him on the shoulder for that comment, but not too hard. She remembered Lilly's earlier attempts at singing, too.

Lilly beamed at the compliments. "It felt so weird to be singing to Miley instead of the other way around, but it felt so good, too!" she said, energized again. She hugged Miley and said, "I'm going to put on some comfy clothes, then we can watch a movie. Sound good to you?"

Miley nodded and said, "Sounds perfect, Lil. Grab some clothes for me too, please." Lilly smiled and went upstairs. Miley turned to her dad and Jackson and said, "Thank you again for letting us have a night together for our birthdays. Daddy, did you get Lilly's birthday present taken care of?"

Robbie Ray said, "Yup, it's all squared away. When are you givin' it to her?"

Miley thought about that. "Well, I had planned on waiting until her actual birthday, but I might give it to her this weekend. I just can't wait to see the look on her face!"

Robbie Ray said, "Well, it's a big present, but it does make sense." He hugged Miley to him and said, "Lilly is very lucky to have a girl as special as you, Miles."

Miley said, "Yeah, but I'm lucky to have her too, Daddy. She might not make as much money as Hannah has yet, but what she gives me comes from her heart, and that makes it just as special."

Robbie Ray looked down at Miley and smiled. "My baby girl is growin' up," he said sadly. "I knew it had to come someday, but daddies can keep wishin' for a while." Miley didn't say anything, she just held her father tightly. "You've turned into a fine young woman, Miley. I know you've had a pretty unusual childhood, but you've done great for yourself. I'll always be here to help you out when you need it, but lately you've been making some pretty grown-up choices, and you've been making good ones." He looked across the room, as if looking into the distance. "I think your momma would be proud of the woman you've grown into. And I know she'd love Lilly."

Miley sniffed a bit. She didn't want any tears to start now, because it would make her eyes all red and puffy, and she wanted to look beautiful for Lilly. But Lilly would understand. She always did, and she always would. She wiped her eyes with her fingers. "I know she would too, Daddy," Miley said. "I know she _does_. I had a dream about her right after Lilly and I started dating, and she said she was proud of us both."

Robbie Ray felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "You had a dream about her, bud?" he asked.

Miley nodded her head. "Is something wrong, Daddy?" she asked. Her father seemed to be thinking about something. "It was a great dream, I promise. She was happy that Lilly and I were together. She said so!"

Robbie Ray smiled. "That's great, darlin'!" he said, meaning every bit of it. "Well, Jackson and I need to get on the road. Knowing that boy he's probably revvin' up the engine outside, tryin' to get my attention."

"Bye Mr. Stewart!" Lilly called out as she walked over and hugged him and Miley both.

Robbie Ray said, "Bye, you two. Lock the doors! We'll be back tomorrow in the mornin' around ten or so."

Miley and Lilly walked him to the door. "Bye Jackson, bye Daddy!" Miley said as she waved. "Bye you two!" Lilly added, waving as well. As the car started and backed out of the driveway, they closed and locked the door. Miley turned to Lilly and quickly said, "How long do we give them to come back in case they forgot something?"

Lilly said, "Three minutes," lifting Miley's shirt over her head. "Enough time to get upstairs."

Miley leaned in and pushed Lilly against the door, kissing her lover deeply, a kiss that had been building all evening and now could be set loose. Lilly kissed back, melting into Miley's warm embrace, taking in the sensation of Miley's hands on her shoulders, Miley's hair against hers, Miley's scent filling her nostrils. Lilly pushed off from the door, setting them in motion. "Upstairs, woman," she said, her voice low and resonant. Miley smiled, then turned and ran upstairs, Lilly close behind.

An hour later, Lilly found herself on the floor on their bedroom, a pillow under her head and Miley wrapped in a blanket with her. "Is it always going to get better, Miley?" she asked. Miley giggled as she just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Lilly continued right along, "I sure hope so, but I don't know how much more intense I can stand it. It's already like you're inside my soul when we make love," she said, kissing Miley on her forehead.

Miley said, "I am, Lilly. Just like you're inside mine. You don't ever leave my soul, or my heart. It's just that when we can put aside everything else and just connect with each other, we can get an idea of how deep our feelings really run."

"They run deep," Lilly said, dropping her voice low and looking down her nose at Miley. "Like, really deep."

Miley laughed at Lilly's playfulness. "I love you, Lilly. Now and forever."

"Now and forever," Lilly echoed, smiling. Suddenly her face brightened even more. "Oh! This is the perfect time for me to give you your birthday gifts!" She started to get up, then she realized that she and Miley were wrapped together fairly tightly in the blanket. "Let me out, please?" she asked sweetly.

Miley looked at her, taking her time to answer. "Alright, I guess you've earned it."

Lilly kissed Miley again, making shivers run up and then down Miley's back. "I'll earn it again later this evening. Maybe two or three times."

Miley shuddered thinking about being able to completely cut loose tonight, not worrying about anyone interrupting them or disturbing their intimacy. "I hope I can still walk tomorrow," she said lightly to Lilly, her smile indicating that she didn't care that much about remaining ambulatory.

Lilly snickered as she squirmed out of the blanket. "If not, at least you'll be happy while you're stuck in the bed," she said. Lilly slipped a long t-shirt on and nothing else, then she helped Miley up. Miley took an appraising look at how Lilly was dressed—or not dressed, more appropriately. She then opted for the same lack of an outfit, putting a long nightshirt on, mostly covering her nude body. Lilly's t-shirt was a bit shorter and left much less to the imagination, as it gave Miley a pleasing view of Lilly's gorgeous legs plus more than a hint of her butt. It was all Miley could do to focus on something other than her lover's behind as they walked down the hall. When they reached the downstairs, Lilly whirled and caught Miley staring at her butt, an eyebrow appreciatively raised. "Gotcha!" Lilly yelled.

Miley didn't even attempt to hide it. She just shifted her eyes to look into Lilly's eyes, lifting her eyebrow even further. "And whatcha gonna do about it?" she said suggestively.

Lilly strode across the three steps that stood between them and then she grabbed Miley's head with both of her hands, standing on her tiptoes to kiss Miley intensely. Miley's hands immediately made their way to the small of Lilly's back, but Lilly reached back and moved them lower until Miley had a firm grip on her rear. "That's better," Lilly said, smiling as she backed Miley across the floor until they bumped into the couch. Miley gently leaned backwards, pulling Lilly slowly with her until they slid back onto the large couch. After several minutes of kissing, they broke for air, panting.

Miley said, "I love you, Lillian Jessica Truscott," holding Lilly's hand tightly.

Lilly smiled and answered, "And I love you, Miley May Stewart." They sat and held each other for a few seconds, enjoying the closeness they felt for each other. "You know," Lilly said, "Mom was watching this movie on cable the other night, and I was kinda watching it while I was doing my homework."

"What movie was it?" Miley said.

Lilly shook her head. "Don't know, never asked. But it had Tom Cruise and some blonde girl in it, and there was this line this I thought was kinda sappy, but for some reason it just came into my mind. At the end of the movie, he comes back to her and when they hug he says, 'You complete me.' Lilly looked into Miley's eyes. "As silly as that sounds, that's how I feel about you, Miley. It's like, my whole life something was missing. And now that we're together, that missing piece isn't missing any more. I feel... whole. Complete." She smiled. "And it's because of you."

Miley hugged Lilly tightly. "I feel the same way, Lilly," she said, her eyes closed tightly against the joyous tears building. "And I could only be complete with you. I know that now." They pulled back slightly so they could look in each other's eyes. "And just think, we're going to have all these years together! All this time, we get to spend it together." She paused. "Well, except when you stink from playing soccer. That time you can have to yourself."

Lilly laughed. "And times when we both get a bit grouchy before... well, you know. Some times it's best to steer clear of each other." She smiled. "But at least we know that and don't get offended by it!"

"Right!" said Miley. "Now, are you ready for your present?"

Lilly shook her head. "No, because whatever it is you've gotten me will be something amazingly wonderful and sweet, and what I have can't compete with that. I get to go first."

Miley took Lilly's hands and said, "It's not a competition, Lilly." Lilly shook her head and interrupted Miley, saying, "I know Miley, but the stuff I got you was kind of small and personal. I took that money you gave me, but I just couldn't find anything that I felt right spending that money on. So I decided to save it for Christmas and instead spent just a bit of it on finishing one of your presents I had been working on." Lilly got up and ran upstairs. After a minute, she came back down carrying a bright white and pink bag.

"Where did you have that?" Miley yelled. "I know it wasn't in my room!"

"And how would you know that," Lilly said, giving Miley a gentle look. "Been snooping for presents?"

Miley grinned a guilty grin. "Yeah," she admitted. "It's hard to wait!"

Lilly said, "I had your dad slip it into the house for me and hide it."

"You are sneaky," Miley said, wrinkling her forehead at Lilly.

Lilly smiled back. "I know." She placed the bag down on the table in front of the couch. "Now, there are only two things in here, but both of them are very personal. You know I don't like making a huge deal out of birthdays, but something just told me to do something very small and intimate, something just for us."

Miley said, "Awww, you're so sweet, Lilly! You know we feel the same way about birthdays. It's nice to get all that stuff, but the gifts from the heart are the ones that count the most." Lilly nodded. Miley gently untied the large pink bow holding the bag's handles together. Reaching in, she felt around the bag, feeling two different objects in the bottom of the bag. Grasping the smaller one, she pulled it out. It looked like a leather-covered slipcase; turning it over, she saw that part of it slid out. She removed the inner section and unfolded it, revealing a DVD. She looked at Lilly, who was grinning already.

"It's a DVD I've been making of us. It's got pictures, some movies, some of your television appearances, school events, of both of us, showing us together. I've spent most of the last year working on it at different times, and I had a ton of people scouring up movies and pictures for me during that time."

Miley processed Lilly's statement. "You've been working this for almost a year?" she asked. Lilly nodded. "That means, you were already doing this before we..."

Lilly nodded again, saying, "Before we started dating. Yeah. I already knew we had something special, Miley. To tell the truth, I was hoping that when we watched this together, it might give me the courage to tell you that I was love with you. I haven't watched it yet on this DVD. I wanted to wait until we could watch it together."

Miley hugged Lilly and said, "That's so romantic!" Having a second of worry, she hastily said, "There's not any Paris Hilton-type stuff on here, is there?"

Lilly laughed and said, "No sweetheart, neither of us go for that kind of kinky stuff like recording ourselves while we make love. You know that."

Miley said, "I know, but I had to be sure," getting a laugh out of Lilly. Miley slid the DVD holder back into the slipcase and hugged it to her chest. "You know, you might still get lucky, if this DVD is as romantic as it sounds," she said to Lilly.

"Woo hoo!" Lilly said loudly. "That was part of the plan, Miley,:" she added, hugging Miley. "Now there's one more gift in there."

Miley dug back into the bag, rustling filler paper out of the way as she grasped the heavy object at the bottom. Not that heavy, but solid at least. As she lifted it out, she saw it was a leather book, relatively thin and roughly the size of a paperback. She read the title, engraved with gold filigree on the cover. "_Miley's Birthday Presents_, by Lilly Truscott." She looked at Lilly. "How did you do this?" she asked, her face aglow.

"There are lots of online places where you can publish a book, or have one made to your specifications. I used a bit of the Hannah money to pay for the best," she said proudly. "Because that's what you deserve." She pointed at the book. "Go ahead and take a look at it," she said, a mischievous grin on her face.

Miley opened the book and started glancing through the pages. Her face turned a bit pink at first, then rather flushed. She looked up from the book and stared directly at Lilly. "Lilly, these are... sex favors!" she said, her voice cracking a bit.

Lilly nodded her head. "Yep. All for you, lover." She scooted closer to Miley and pointed at one of the pages. "See, when you want to cash in this one, I punch this little box here, and you get what's on the page."

Miley's mouth was agape as she looked at Lilly. "I just..." She flipped through a few more pages, then gasped. "Oh my gosh!" she said, looking at Lilly. Lilly looked at the page and said, "Oh yeah, I'm looking forward to you cashing in that one!" Miley's heart was skipping beats as she imagined Lilly in that particular position. _I'm looking forward to it too. Maybe later tonight_. "Lilly, this book is... I mean, I've never seen anything like it before!" Miley said, both embarrassed and excited. As she looked at Lilly, she could see that Lilly had really put quite a bit of time and effort into her gifts. They were both deeply personal, and the book was certainly never meant to be seen by anyone other than Miley. She looked back at Lilly, who was obviously trying to decide if Miley liked her gifts or hated them. _I could never hate anything that came from you, Lilly_. "Lilly, I love my gifts," she said, putting a huge smile of relief on Lilly's face.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad!" Lilly said, relief very evident in her voice. "I was afraid the book might have been a bit too over the top, but I was hoping you'd see it for what it was."

Miley smiled and said, "I do. You're offering yourself to me in a very intimate, personal way, and I'm honored by how much you love me, to be able to do that." She hugged Lilly and kissed her warmly. "Thank you for my gifts!" she said, holding Lilly to her chest as if her life depended on it. _Funny phrase, _Miley thought,_ because my life and future happiness does depend on her being with me. _

Lilly smiled as she said, "You really like them?"

Miley nodded, her eyes wet. "You did an amazing job with them, Lilly. You always put so much of yourself into your gifts, how could I not love them?" Lilly smiled, her own eyes glistening. Miley gently placed her book on the table beside the DVD case. She extended her hand for Lilly to take. As Lilly took her hand and stood, Miley slowly began walking across the den. "Time for your present, lover," Miley said. "I kinda took a different approach for your present, but then you only turn sixteen once, right?" she said, turning to look at Lilly.

Lilly said, "Miles, you know I'll love anything you get me, even if it's a pair of socks."

Miley smiled. "I know, hon," she said. "Thank you." She turned and pulled Lilly across the kitchen to the back door. As they reached the back door, Miley turned back around and said, "Now, don't freak out, okay?" as she gave Lilly a hesitant look.

Lilly said, "Okay Miley, I won't freak out," she said. _Why did she say that? _

Miley said, "Good." She then unlocked the door and said, "Your present is right out here, Lilly," opening the door.

Lilly stepped outside into the carport, looking all around for a bag or a wrapped present. None was to be seen. She looked around the concrete, next to the door, but she still didn't see anything. She glanced over on the shelves but still saw nothing other the stuff that was already there. Puzzled, she walked around the car sitting there to see if there was anything on the other side of...

The.

New.

Car.

Lilly clapped her hands over her mouth and screamed, a scream of pure unbelieving joy. She started hopping up and down as she looked at the sleek car sitting in front of her, still screaming into her hands.

"Do you like it?" Miley asked, hoping that Lilly's scream was definitely a happy scream. When Lilly dropped her hands to start fanning herself, Miley saw the enormous smile on her face. She ran around the glistening black car and hugged Lilly. Lilly squeezed Miley for all she was worth, causing Miley to gasp, "Okay... hard... to breath..."

Lilly abruptly released Miley, saying, "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" She turned to look back at the car and again her voice left her. She kept fanning herself as she looked the car over. It was a low-slung, small roadster, with only two seats, a glossy black with just a hint of a dark gray in it. Lilly opened the door and looked at Miley. "Can I sit in it?" she asked, her heart racing.

Miley said, "It's your car, Lilly. You can sure sit in it."

Lilly looked back at Miley and said, "You have to sit in it too. I'm not sitting down without you beside me." Miley smiled and walked around to the other side of the car. She opened the door and slid into the vehicle. "Who's Tesla?" Lilly asked as she traced the logo on the steering wheel.

As she sat down, Miley said, "It's the name of the company that makes this car. He was this brilliant inventor who..." She broke off her sentence as she looked over at Lilly. Lilly was visibly shaking. "Lilly, are you okay?" Miley asked, now a bit concerned about her best friend.

Lilly looked at Miley, her jaw quivering. "This is just..." She stopped, visibly trying to gather her composure. "No one has ever done anything this nice for me, Miley. Not ever." She looked over at Miley, taking in her fiancée's long, dark chestnut hair, her sparkling blue eyes, her soft pink lips. "What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?" Lilly said, her voice breaking as she started crying.

Miley leaned over and held Lilly, resting Lilly's head on her shoulder. "You were just yourself, Lilly," she said. "That's all you ever had to do." She buried her face in Lilly's silky blonde hair as she whispered, "I love you, Lilly. Happy birthday."

In between sniffles, Lilly said, "I love you too, Miley. And happy birthday to you too. I hope you like your presents."

Miley could tell from the tone in Lilly's voice that she felt her gifts to Miley weren't in the same league as Miley's gift to Lilly. She pulled back and said, "Don't even start that, girl. My gift to you is just a thing. Your gift to me is something personal that you had to make. That makes it much more special to me."

Lilly smiled, tears still trickling down her cheeks as she said, "Well, your gift is pretty darn special to me!" She looked at Miley and said, "Compromise?"

Miley smiled back. "Compromise. Both gifts are perfect?"

Lilly nodded. "After all, the real gift I get is you."

Miley smiled as she said, "Same here, Lilly; you're the most perfect gift I could imagine. Although I did see something in that book that I want to try..."

Lilly liked the spark in Miley's eye as she said that. "I did bring my little hole-puncher, so we can mark them off as you redeem them," she said with a hint of a smile on her face.

Miley looked back at Lilly and said, "Let's go," a loving smile on her face.

**Author's Afterword:** Yay! We're about at the end of the first section of our story. After the next chapter, we'll move forward a few weeks until Lilly and Miley are about to go on Christmas Break. But first, the girls have one more birthday gift, one they're not expecting...

As for the song Lilly sang to Miley, it first appeared on Veruca Salt's third album, _Resolver_. I highly recommend listening to it so you get a feel for how naked and emotional a song it really is. I still get chills listening to it; there's just something about it that I find hauntingly beautiful and painfully honest. I expect you can probably find it somewhere on the net for download or listening, or you could just find the album. See you soon!

-- Jo --


	9. Chapter 9: Audiences

**Author's Note:** Welcome back, and thanks for the nice reviews! The birthday weekend continues, and we finally get the big concert in this chapter. Starting with Chapter 11, we'll be moving on to the winter break and shifting gears in the story. Expect a bit more intrigue in those chapters as Miley brings Lilly to Tennessee to spend some time with her family, plus I have more surprises in store for everyone! Please see Chapter 1 for my standard disclaimers!

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 9: Audiences

_True friends will go to the ends of the earth_

_'Til they find the things you need_

_Friends hang on through the ups and the downs_

_'Cause they've got someone to believe in_

_--_Hannah Montana"True Friends"

"_Hannah, you two are on in three minutes," a voice off to Miley's left said. _

_Miley looked around, but she couldn't see anything in the dark. "Hey, what's going on?" she called out. "I can't see anything!" The last thing she remembered was falling asleep with Lilly in her arms, exhausted but incredibly fulfilled by their special night together. But now she was standing in the dark, and she was starting to get scared because she couldn't feel Lilly anywhere around her. Then a hand whose touch was as familiar as Miley's own took Miley's right hand, and she immediately relaxed. "I couldn't find you," Miley said to Lilly._

"_I'm still right here, silly," Lilly's cheerful voice said from Miley's right. "They turned out the lights, remember?"_

_Miley didn't remember. That was part of the problem. She hesitated, unsure of which name to use for Lilly, then she remembered that someone had addressed her as Hannah. "No, Lola, I don't remember," she whispered. "The last thing I remember was us celebrating our night together the weekend before our sixteenth birthday, and we had given each other our presents—"_

"_Oh, my car! That was so sweet, lover, thank you again. I still love it," Lilly said, kissing Miley on the right cheek. "And you seemed to enjoy your gifts, too. We might make it through your book by the end of the year. I think we're a little over three quarters of the way through, last time I counted, but I keep forgetting to punch the--."_

_Miley continued, interrupting the interruption. "--And we had gone to bed, because I remember falling asleep with you lying on my chest, and you looked so cute while you were breathing while I was holding you, then..." Now she realized what was going on. "Then I fell asleep," she said softly. She turned in what she hoped was the direction of Lilly and said, "I think this is another dream, Lola."_

"_Now?" Lilly said, sounding a bit concerned. "Hannah, now isn't exactly the best time, if you know what I mean!" Lilly spoke a little louder as she said, "Can we get a little light here, just for a few seconds, please?"_

_Instantly a soft backlight flickered on. Miley almost gasped as she gazed at Lilly, looking easily as beautiful as she had ever seen her. She had on Lola's bright orange wig and very light makeup, but she was wearing a shimmering silver dress that the word elegant failed to accurately describe. The top was held up by two thin straps hanging across Lilly's strong shoulders, with no sleeves covering her toned arms. The waist tapered in and then fell as a knee-length skirt with an asymmetrical hem, a few inches longer on Lilly's left leg than on her right. The satiny texture of the gown gave the impression of liquid metal, softly catching the light to present a burnished look all over the dress. The effect contrasted nicely with Lilly's gentle natural tan, making her look incredibly healthy and astoundingly sexy. "Oh my gosh Lola, you look..." Miley unconsciously licked her lips. "Gorgeous. Beautiful. Sexy as hell."_

_Lilly grinned. "Why, thank you, Hannah, you look amazing too, but we go on stage in about two minutes! Did you say that you're in another special dream right now?"_

_Miley nodded her head. "Yeah, the last thing I remember was falling asleep with you the weekend before our sixteenth birthday." As she looked at Lilly, she noticed that Lilly looked slightly older, more... womanly. Her curves had filled out perfectly, and she had an air of confidence that added to her natural charisma. The changes were subtle, but no one paid more attention to Lilly than Miley, and the subtle changes were still easily visible to Lilly's partner. Miley looked back up into Lilly's sparkling blue eyes. "How old are we?" she asked, at once eager and frightened to hear the answer._

_Lilly smiled at her, her warm, loving smile that could always soothe whatever was troubling Miley, and instantly Miley started to feel better. Lilly softly said, "We're nineteen, Miley. We're at the Grammys, getting ready to present the award for Best New Artist, which you won three years ago." Her smile changed just slightly, the corners of her mouth turning upward as she swallowed. Miley could tell she was fighting tears, but then Lilly grinned a huge grin as she held up her left hand, showing not only her engagement ring, but a simple gold band next to it. "And we're married, sweetheart," Lilly said softly, her smile triggering a matching smile on Miley's face. Miley looked down at her own left hand, and there she saw the mate to Lilly's wedding band, placed securely on her left ring finger, nestled next to the engagement ring she had never taken off since Lilly had placed it on her hand that night in Las Vegas. She felt her own eyes water as she gasped, scarcely believing what her own eyes were showing her. She leaned in and kissed Lilly, needing the physical contact, and as the kiss deepened Miley was convinced that this was true, that it was going to happen. And more importantly, that it was right for this to happen. _

_As they slowly pulled their lips apart, Miley heard the announcer's voice over the theater's speakers say, "And now, the hottest married couple in Hollywood, six-time Grammy winner Hannah Montana and her wife, who appears in her first starring movie role this spring, Lola Montana!" She looked into Lilly's eyes as both of them laughed softly, eyes dancing and glistening with emotion. "I think they're calling us, Lola," Miley said. _

_Lilly nodded her head. "Yep. Let's not keep 'em waiting."_

_Miley grinned. "Okay," she said. "Love you."_

"_Love you too," Lilly said, then they stepped out of the curtains, into the applause waiting for them. _

Miley opened her eyes, eager to see the crowd, but all she saw was the ceiling of her room. Then she felt Lilly's warm breath on her neck, and she knew she was back home. Miley gently turned her head to her right, glancing down at Lilly's face, looking angelic as she slept. As Miley watched, Lilly scrunched her nose, then sniffed trying to dislodge a stray lock of Miley's curly hair that was nudging her face. Miley quickly reached over with her left arm and moved the errant curl before Lilly could wake up. As soon as it was dislodged, Lilly smiled in her sleep and snuggled a little closer to Miley, mumbling something in her sleep. Miley grinned as she made out the word _pancakes_, but she couldn't clearly hear anything else. She looked over at the clock. _Seven-ten_, she thought. _Plenty of time for pancakes later before Daddy and Jackson get home._ She smiled as she pulled the covers up slightly and stretched her left arm across her body as she leaned just slightly into Lilly, pulling her lover closer as she closed her own eyes, capturing a few more precious minutes of sleep in the peace of the early morning.

Miley's next sensation was that of soft heat against her lips. She instinctively kissed back, opening her mouth for Lilly as the pressure built. She opened her eyes to see Lilly's eyes looking into hers, joy evident in her sparkling aqua eyes. As the girls slowly ended the kiss, Lilly said, "Good morning, Miles."

Miley smiled back and stretched, then she said, "Love waking up that way," as her back popped slightly. "And I love you, Lil." She gently slid out from under Lilly and stood, then she walked across the bedroom to put on a t-shirt. She checked the clock again; this time it read nine-thirty. _Better put on some other clothes_, she thought. She strode over to the dresser and pulled out two pairs of panties, tossing one over to Lilly. Lilly tried to catch them, but they fell a bit short, landing at the foot of the bed. Lilly looked over at the clock, then she looked back at the panties and picked them up. She stood as well, stepping into the pink-and-yellow striped panties whose mate Miley was wearing.

The girls had never specifically decided to start wearing matching bras and panties, it had just sort of happened. Now it was second nature. When buying new underwear, each of them always bought articles in even numbers. When folding clothes, they folded two of each together. Miley thought it was cute that they made sure they matched, especially when it was articles of clothing that no one else would see. She expected Lilly found it cute, too, or she wouldn't be doing it still. Lilly wasn't quite as picky about her clothes as Miley, and things such as color coordinating and wearing matching underwear were rather low on her list of priorities. Ironically, she spent much more time on Lola's wardrobe making sure things _didn't_ match than she spent on actually coordinating her own outfits.

Miley tugged on a pair of beach shorts as Lilly put on a shirt and slightly longer shorts. "Let's go downstairs so I can make you breakfast," she said, extending her hand for Lilly to take.

Lilly smiled as she stepped forward and took Miley's hand. "'Kay," Lilly said in reply. As they walked downstairs, Lilly asked Miley a good question. "Miley, what possessed you to get me a car for my birthday?"

Miley turned around as she reached the ground floor of the house. "Because it's your sixteenth birthday, and because you'll need a car, and because it's good for the environment, and because it's almost as cute as you are," she said in rapid fire fashion. She spun around again and walked into the kitchen. Lilly walked over and went to work getting a mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, flour and a frying pan out as Miley washed her hands and then took the milk out of the refrigerator. Miley turned around with the milk and stopped. She said, "How did you know I was wanting to make you pancakes?" she asked.

A sly grin crossed Lilly's face as she said, "I wasn't as asleep as you thought I was this morning when I was talking about them." She moved aside and washed her own hands as Miley laughed and began work on the pancake batter. After a few minutes, the pan was hot and the batter was ready, so the girls started cooking. By working together, they finished quickly, and they sat down to eat together. Each of them sneaked little glances at each other as they ate, trying not to giggle as they made and quickly broke eye contact over breakfast. When Miley was finished, she stood and started clearing some of the debris from Lilly's breakfast. As her hand reached for Lilly's plate, Lilly gently grabbed her hand and held it. She stood and kissed Miley softly. "Thank you," she said. "For breakfast, for last night, for my wonderful birthday, and for being mine."

Miley smiled and said, "You're welcome. And thank you for all the same things you just said." She set the dishes she was carrying down and wrapped her arms around Lilly, who laid her head on Miley's shoulder. "I had another dream last night, Lilly," Miley said quietly.

Lilly lifted her head to look Miley in the face. "Was it a good dream?" she asked.

Miley's smile faded as she asked, "Why are you asking that?" she said, concerned.

Lilly shook her head and lowered her eyes. "Well, your other dreams... There's just something about them. It's like they're almost..." Lilly's voice faded off. "I'm not sure, Miley," she finally said, looking back up. "But I think there's something special about them. I mean, have you ever heard of two people having the same dream before? The exact same dream?"

Miley had to shake her head. "No, I haven't," she said. She understood how Lilly felt; there did seem to be something powerful about her dreams, and that dream they had shared was very unusual. Was she really seeing the future in her dreams? Did her mom have anything to do with that? After all, she was present in both of Miley's earlier dreams, and she had told Miley that the things she had dreamed would indeed come true. Miley gently turned Lilly's head back to look in her eyes. "But I don't think there's anything bad about them, Lilly. They've been really good so far. I mean, that first dream gave us the reassurance that things were going to work out with our families when we told them about us, remember?"

Lilly nodded. "I guess. I'm just a bit nervous about your dreams. I'm afraid that one day you'll dream something bad, and that it'll come true. That's what worries me."

Miley said, "Well, if that ever happens, I won't--" The sudden flash of anger in Lilly's eyes made Miley stop in mid-sentence.

"Now you listen to me, Miley Stewart, soon to be my wife and the woman I love more than life itself," Lilly said heatedly. "If you ever do have a bad special dream, you most certainly will _not_ keep it a secret, do you hear me? We have no secrets when it comes to big things or our family, and that's how it has to be. If you get some scary revelation about the future, you will _not_ have to carry it by yourself. I am your--" Lilly stopped, then started again, her voice a bit lighter. "I mean, I _will be_ your wife, and spouses support each other. They share the burdens and share the worries, so they can help each other. You got me?"

Miley wasn't sure whether to kiss Lilly or say, "Yes, ma'am." So she did both. Lilly's expression softened and was replaced by the familiar smile Miley adored. "I won't keep any bad stuff from you, Lilly. I promise. But there really hasn't been any. All the dreams have been good."

Lilly's eyes lit up as she suddenly remembered what had started this conversation in the first place. "The dream! Okay, tell me, tell me!" she said, excited again and now bouncing up and down in place.

Miley smiled and led Lilly over to the couch. They sat, Lilly scooting right in front of Miley, their bodies facing each other, their knees touching as they sat Indian-style on the couch. "Okay, this dream was a really short one, but it was really, really cool," she said. Lilly leaned forward, listening intently as Miley started describing the dream. She never moved or said a word as Miley went through the entire dream.

When Miley was finished, Lilly's eyes were enormous. She opened her mouth to speak, but it took just a bit for any sound to emerge. "So we were presenting an award at the Grammys?" she said excitedly. Miley nodded. "And you had already won six Grammys?" Miley nodded again, a smile starting on her face. "And I was starring in a movie that was coming out later that year?" she said excitedly, her voice wavering slightly. "And we were married?" she asked, her voice cracking at that statement. Miley nodded, her smile large and her eyes wet with tears of happiness. Lilly leaned in and hugged Miley tightly. As they held each other, Lilly pumped her right fist and said, "Yes!" which got a laugh out of Miley.

Lilly suddenly gasped and pulled back, still holding Miley by the shoulders. "Miley!" she said loudly.

"Yeah?" said Miley cautiously.

"You said you won the Best New Artist Grammy three years earlier, and that was why we were presenting it?"

"Yeah, I think so," Miley said, still not seeing where Lilly was going.

Lilly looked at her with an energetic expression on her face. When she saw Miley had no idea what she was thinking, she lightly tapped Miley on the forehead with her fingers. "Hello!" she said to her girlfriend, who was a bit caught off guard by her action. "Miley! If we were nineteen in your dream, that means you win the Best New Artist Grammy _this year_!" she said, her voice quite excited.

Miley's jaw dropped. "Oh my gosh Lilly, you're right!" she shouted. "When do they announce the nominees?" Miley knew she should know the answer to that question, but right now she couldn't think very clearly. She started to look around, but she was stopped when Lilly tightened the grip on her shoulders.

"Miley!" Lilly said. "Relax. If you're going to win, then you're going to win. Likewise, the nominations will be announced whenever they're announced, right?" Miley made a head motion that Lilly thought was close enough to count as a nod, so she continued. "So if your dream really is telling the future, then let's act surprised and not tell anyone about the dream, okay?"

Miley said, "Yeah, okay. That's probably not a bad idea." She looked at Lilly, both of them thinking the same thing. "But if I do win the Grammy this year..." she started.

Lilly finished the sentence for her. "Then that means your other dream about us and our baby might come true, too!" Both of them smiled and giggled so hard they were shaking. "You rock, Miley!" Lilly shouted.

At that time, the front door opened, and Robbie Ray and Jackson walked inside. "Hey girls!" Robbie Ray called out.

"Hey Daddy, Jackson!" Miley replied as Lilly called out, "Hi you two!"

Robbie Ray closed the door and said, "You two are gonna love this," he said. "We were drivin' back this mornin', and I get a call from the record company." He had a big smile on his face as he spoke, and he saw Miley and Lilly take a quick glance at each other. "Guess who's been nominated for three Grammys this year?" he said, loudly.

Without taking her eyes off her father, Miley felt for Lilly's hand, just as Lilly was searching for Miley's. As their fingers touched, they gripped each other's hand tightly. Lilly was the one who finally spoke, in a subdued voice rather unlike her. "Hannah?" she said, still looking at Robbie Ray.

Robbie Ray's smile faded some as he said, "Yeah. Shucks, I thought ya'll'd be happier than that!"

Miley said, "Daddy, we're really, really happy." She turned and looked at Lilly, whose mouth started to curl into a smile that grew bigger by the second. Miley started laughing as she looked at Lilly, which naturally triggered Lilly to do the same. They hugged tightly, laughing, crying, celebrating all at the same time.

"It's going to happen, Miley," Lilly whispered. "It's really going to happen. I know it."

Miley was able to compose herself long enough to respond, "So do I, Lilly. So do I." _Wherever you are Momma, thank you_.

After everyone danced around the living room to celebrate the news of Hannah's nominations, Miley and Lilly went back out to the carport to look at Lilly's new car. "It's electric," Miley said.

"What?" Lilly asked. "Electric? Like, it doesn't use gas?"

Miley nodded. "You charge it up at night, like your cell phone," she said. She pointed to a device mounted against the wall. "That's the charging station for it. You can also get a solar-powered charging station. That's what I'm going to have installed at your parents' house soon, so it won't use any electricity of theirs at all."

Lilly looked around the small, sporty little car. "I thought electric cars were ugly. And you could only drive them to the store and back."

Miley shook her head. "Not this baby. The company claims you can get over 200 miles out of one charge, and it can go a lot faster than we really ought to be driving." She looked at Lilly, who was standing over at the driver's door and seemed to be looking for the door handle.

"Uh, Miley," Lilly said, "I hate to break this to you, but there's no way to get inside. How did you open the door last night?"

Miley walked around the car and guided Lilly's hand into a recess atop the door. "There's a keypad right here. You type in your code and it opens."

"Wicked cool!" Lilly said, obviously excited as the door's lock released.

The next hour was spent playing around with little things in the car, from the computer system to the seat settings. As they took turns checking out every aspect of the car, Robbie Ray watched them, thinking how much like little girls at Christmas they were. He had to admit, when Miley had first told him what she wanted to get Lilly for her birthday, he thought it was far, far too much. But Miley's persistence began to wear him down over a month ago, and her arguments began to make sense. They would be needing a car in the near future, since they would both be driving. The Tesla Roadster only seated two people, so there couldn't be any potentially distracting guests. The electric nature of the car eliminated the need to get gasoline, making it much cheaper, more efficient, and environmentally friendly. Service required was almost zero, given its lack of the typical parts that required service in a combustion engine. And most importantly, it looked cute.

He shook his head then set his glass down in the sink. He walked outside and said, "You ladies want to go for a ride? You've both got your learner permits, so I'll ride with either of you that wants to take her out."

Lilly shook her head. "No thanks, Mr. Stewart. The first ride in this cute little thing has to be Miley and me. After the first ride, then we'd love for you to work with us as we get used to it, but we want the first ride to be us."

Miley turned to look at Lilly. "We didn't talk about that, Lilly," she said, but she wasn't upset. Far from it, because Lilly had said exactly what Miley had been thinking.

Lilly smiled. "I know, but I'm not driving her without you by my side. Not the first time. I want to share that with you, sweetheart."

Miley smiled back. "I like it when we share first times," she said, her tone of voice implying another first time that was quite clear to Lilly.

Lilly leaned over and kissed Miley. "So do I, lover," she whispered. "Thank you again for my wonderful birthday presents."

"You're welcome," Miley answered. "And thank you for mine. I think we'll both be enjoying our presents for a long time," she said with a knowing smile on her face.

After the girls played around with the car, the rest of the day went smoothly. Robbie Ray had already told Jackson about the car, and he seemed to be fine with it. In truth, he had grown to like his own car in the months that he had been driving it, and he had already heard all of Miley's selling points about the car. Several times. Most importantly, he was okay with the car because his sister had gotten it for Lilly. He really liked Lilly, and he always had. At one point in time, he had thought about asking Lilly out, but as soon as he considered the idea he realized it would be far too uncomfortable. He had thought of Lilly as a sister for quite some time by then, and it would make things rather awkward if she were to say yes, but he knew she probably wouldn't for the same reasons. Now he was sure he had made the right decision, and he was getting a very cool, very caring sister-in-law as his reward. Jackson was also learning quite a bit about romancing a young woman from watching how Miley and Lilly interacted. It was like gaining secret insights into how girls thought, and Miley and Lilly were happy to talk to Jackson about how to woo Kaela, for they both liked the tall redhead as well. She was definitely fun to have around, and her mother had begun to let her come over occasionally, as well as let Jackson come over to her house at times.

The entire air of romance that now filled the Stewart household had left its mark on Jackson, and the positive effects it had on him were very noticeable. He had become more responsible, more saving with his money, and more considerate of others, although that had never really been a problem with Jackson. His good nature tended to come out easily, except when he and Miley butted heads. But lately, they hadn't fought much at all. It seemed both of them were growing up.

About twelve the girls started packing up their outfits for tonight's concert. Rather than spend several hours in those clothes, Miley and Lilly just put on everyday clothes, consisting of shirts and jeans for each of them, and covered their hair up with caps. Miley went into the closet and grabbed one of her few caps, opting for her black, orange and light blue Tennessee Lady Vols cap this time. When she came back out, Lilly turned around to show off her new cap. "Ta da!" she said, modeling the cap for her.

Miley laughed and said, "Where did you get one of my Hannah Montana Crew caps?"

Lilly grinned and said, "Your dad had it done for me, and it isn't any old Crew cap." She walked over to Miley, getting close enough to where Miley could read what was embroidered under the Hannah Montana logo. Just under the familiar pink and yellow HM, the title _Hannah's Woman_ had been embroidered in bright pink thread.

Miley said, "No way!" as she read it, laughing. "Did he really have that made for you?" she asked.

Lilly nodded her head, still smiling. "Oh! He had one made for you, too," she said, turning and rummaging through a bag Miley hadn't seen before. Lilly produced another white cap, identical to hers except the title on this one read simply _Hannah_. "Like it?" she asked Miley, still grinning.

Miley said, "Yes, but why doesn't it read _Lola's Woman_? You deserve some recognition too, you know."

Lilly said, "Those are going to be the next set, and they'll be black instead of white. _Lola_ and _Lola's Woman_."

Miley couldn't tell if Lilly was being serious or just playing with her. "Really?" she asked. Lilly nodded. "You rock, Lilly!" Miley said excitedly, hugging her girlfriend. "Why did _you_ get the black caps?" she asked, suddenly serious.

"Because you do white better than me," Lilly said with a smirk. When she topped her statement with a kiss, Miley knew she was beaten.

"Okay, are we ready to go?" Miley asked, taking one last look around the room. The girls had managed to narrow what they were taking down to one suitcase each, plus their wig bag.

Lilly said, "I think we're good to go, Miles." She motioned for Miley to exit the room first, then she turned off the light as they made their way downstairs. Robbie Ray was waiting at the door as they stepped off the stairs.

"Land sakes, took you girls long enough," he said, halfway joking.

"Daddy, I told you, we're young women, not girls. We're going to be old enough to drive in a few days!" Miley said in the same half-joking tone of voice as she and Lilly walked past Robbie Ray.

"Yeah, we're almost old enough to _get married_," Lilly said pointedly as she passed by her future father-in-law. "In fact, if our parents agreed to it, we could get married before we turned eighteen," she said, turning to look pleadingly at Robbie Ray.

"Still too young right now, darlin', sorry," he said, smiling to soften his telling her no. As he climbed into the car and started it up, he said over his shoulder, "But you two are sure a heck of a lot closer to bein' ready than you were three months ago."

Lilly turned to look at Miley, who was as surprised as she was. They squeezed each other's hands and silently cheered as they looked at each other. Miley cautiously said, "At our current rate of progress, when do you think we're gonna be ready, Daddy?"

Robbie Ray looked into the rear view mirror as he said, "Oh no. That's one a' them questions that parents know not to answer. Nice try, though."

Miley looked at Lilly and shrugged. "Worth a shot," she said as Lilly smiled at her.

The vehicle changeover went quickly, and soon they were in the limousine, pulling into the private terminal at the airport. They were waved on through to the hangar Hannah's record company used, where their luggage was swiftly loaded onto the private jet. As she stepped out of the limo, Miley thought for a minute about how different it was to be in public as Hannah without wearing her wig. Even if her real hair was carefully hidden under her new white cap, it was still a thrill to be doing something slightly different. _Are we going to continue as Hannah and Lola to protect our privacy, or should we reveal our true identities someday so we don't have to fool with all this sneaking around? I need to ask Lilly about that soon, because that's the kind of decision we don't want to rush into or make without really thinking about it carefully. Plus it's not just my decision to make now, it's hers too. Partners in everything_, she thought with a smile as they climbed the steps into the jet.

"Well, well, little missys," said Roxy, waiting on them just inside the jet. "How are my favorite two young ladies today?" she said, giving each of them a hug as they stepped onto the plane.

Lilly said, "We're doing great, Roxy, thanks," as she hugged the bodyguard back.

Miley said, "Absolutely great! How are you, Roxy?" as she hugged the woman who had been Hannah's bodyguard for nearly four years now.

"Roxy is doing just fine," she said in reply. "Now you two get sit down and buckled in, so we can get off this ground! It's gonna take about four or five hours to get to New Jersey, depending on wind, and Ms. Hannah Montana is most definitely gonna be on time to her concert!"

Miley and Lilly laughed and went to the back of the plane, continuing through the partition midway back and closing the door separating the front and rear passenger compartments. Once the door was closed, the girls took off their caps and shook their hair out.

"Ooohhhh, that feels good!" Lilly said, running her hands through her hair. She turned to Miley, who was doing much the same. "Here sweetheart, sit and let me brush your hair out," she said kindly. Miley was happy to oblige, plopping down on one of the stools and scooting over to a bench seat where Lilly could sit. They felt the airplane start to taxi to the runway as Lilly gently brushed Miley's long, thick chestnut hair, making Miley purr from the sensation of her lover's hands working on her hair.

"Why does this feel so delicious?" Miley said, her eyes closed from pleasure.

Lilly leaned forward and whispered in Miley's right ear, "Because I'm doing it with love."

Miley turned around and threw her arms around Lilly. "Yes, you certainly are," she said in a sultry voice, pushing Lilly back and nearly onto the couch.

"Uh, I wasn't done with your hair," Lilly said, still holding the hairbrush.

Miley gently took the brush from Lilly's hand and dropped it on the stool. "You are now," she said, leaning against Lilly and kissing her deeply. As the plane accelerated to takeoff, the girls rolled back onto the couch, entangled in each other's arms and in each other's love.

The flight to New Jersey took right at five hours, with the winds being the main variable. Miley and Lilly had gotten ready on the plane, and they now stepped off the plane in full dress as Hannah and Lola. It was much colder in New Jersey than it had been in Malibu, and Hannah was wearing a white fake fur coat over her long-sleeved shirt, with her obligatory faded jeans and white boots rounding out her outfit for tonight. Lola, in turn, had gone for a breathtaking study in colors, with her magenta wig, a black evening dress over a light blue long-sleeved shirt and bright pink stockings, and glossy black boots with a dark purple parka to keep out the chill.

As they jumped into the limo, snow was blowing in the air, and the chill from walking to the limo was abrupt. As soon as her butt touched the seat, Lilly reached for the controls, turning the heat on. "Turn it up, Lola," Miley said as she scooted in quickly, bumping into Lilly.

"Already done, hon," Lilly said, leaning back and cuddling against Miley. "How is it this cold?" she said, shivering.

"Uh, because we're in New Jersey, goofy," Miley said. "I hope we make it back out of here before the real snow starts. I want to get back home to watch that DVD you made me."

Lilly smiled as she looked at her girlfriend, who looked absolutely radiant. Miley's cheeks were slightly reddened from the wind whipping through the frosty air outside, and her pink lip gloss matched that nicely. Her long, blonde Hannah hair gave her an exotic look, different but still the Miley she loved. "You look great tonight, Hannah," she said, enthralled by how her partner looked.

Similarly, Miley was busy checking out how Lilly looked. The bright colors, the clashing clothes and the generally antifashion approach made for a busy image, but Miley had fallen in love with it as much as she had fallen in love with Lilly. "You look amazing yourself," Miley was able to spit out before she got lost in Lilly's glittering blue eyes. The girls just sat and held each other tight, no need to kiss or make out at the moment. They knew there would never be a rush to be intimate with each other, for they had the rest of their lives for that. Sometimes just being held and loved was all the intimacy they needed, and now was one of those times. They enjoyed the drive to the arena in warm silence, holding each other tightly.

As they arrived at the arena, Hannah's fans were in full force, lined up outside the arena despite the cold. As the limo pulled onto the road in front of the arena, it was quickly spotted by several eager fans, who began cheering and clapping. Miley and Lilly rolled down the window and waved, sparking even louder cheers. The limo pulled into the service entrance of the arena, and Robbie Ray and Roxy exited the front section first, then Roxy opened the door for Miley and Lilly to step out.

As soon as Miley stepped out, flashes and applause started, putting a smile on her face. Lilly climbed out right behind her, putting her arm around Miley as they stood. Robbie Ray came over to the girls and said, "Entertainment Tonight is wanting to ask you girls some questions after the concert, if you feel like it." Miley and Lilly looked at each other. Lilly shrugged, prompting Miley to say, "Okay, we'll see how it goes, but it should be okay."

A security guard came over and spoke to Roxy, who talked with him briefly as Miley and Lilly smiled and waved for the cameras. A young woman who didn't appear much older than either Miley or Lilly caught their attention as she leaned forward, extending her microphone as she called out, "Hannah! Lola! Can I ask you a question, please!" Lilly looked at Miley, who nodded, so they walked over to the young woman. She looked surprised, then she composed herself and a smile appeared on her face. "Heidi Norris, WQPO news. All of New Jersey is excited about your concert tonight, Hannah! Anything special in store for the fans tonight?"

Miley smiled. "Well, I don't want to give away too much, but yes, we do certainly have a surprise in store for the fans tonight." Miley remembered she needed to talk to her road manager to make sure that her surprise guests had made it to the arena, preferably in secret. She turned her attention back to the reporter, who had apparently posed a question that Lilly was now answering.

"Well, it's kind of a special concert for the two of us tonight because our birthdays are both next week. After tonight, I think we're taking a bit of a break so we can all spend time with our families for the holidays. But tonight it's all about the show for New Jersey!" Lilly said excitedly.

"Happy birthday to both of you!" Heidi said, smiling. "How old will you both be?"

"Sixteen," both Lilly and Miley said simultaneously.

Roxy came over and said, "Ms. Montana, Ms. Lola, we need to get you two backstage and finish getting set up for the concert."

Miley smiled and said, "Gotta go! See you later tonight, and we're gonna give New Jersey a great show tonight!" Lilly also waved as they turned and walked off, following Roxy down the concrete hall. "How long until show time?" Miley asked Roxy.

"You got about thirty, forty minutes," Roxy answered. "Here's your dressing room, ladies," she said, pausing in front of a door.

Miley opened the door and walked in. "Oooh, how beautiful!" she said as she saw all the flowers around the dressing room. All different kinds were visible, including jasmine, red roses, pink roses, blue bells, daisies, and several different kinds of tulips.

"No stargazer lilies," Lilly said as she hugged Miley from behind. "They make you sneeze."

"Ironic, huh?" Miley said, smiling at Lilly's thoughtfulness and excellent memory.

"Not at all," Lilly said. "I'm the only lily for you, sweetheart," she whispered, squeezing Miley.

Miley patted Lilly's hands, then turned and kissed her. "Happy birthday again," she said.

"I think that's my line," Lilly said, her breath a bit panting as they deepened the kiss, dropping onto the couch in the dressing room. "We should be careful, 'cause we don't want to mess up your lipstick or your makeup," Lilly said, pulling back a bit.

Miley nodded; Lilly was right. Plenty of time to make out on the flight back home. She said, "I need to go check on one thing with the band. For our special song tonight," she added, grinning.

"Is it a song I know?" Lilly asked, excited.

"It's a song you _love_," Miley said, grinning. "I just hope we can do it well enough."

Lilly stood and took Miley's hands. "Honey, you have amazing musical talent. You'll do it just great. I know it."

"Thanks, lover," Miley said. "Okay, I need to go for just a bit. Meet me at the backstage area in a bit if I don't get back in time?" Miley said as she backed to the door.

"Of course," Lilly said, walking to the table holding several drinks on it. She selected a ginger ale, opened it, and took a drink. "I'll get you a juice or something, okay?" she called out to Miley, who was down the hall already, but Lilly could still hear her yell, "Okay!"

After a few minutes, Lilly got bored waiting in the dressing room, so she left the room and walked around the arena. Being Lola meant she almost never got asked for her pass; even someone who had never personally seen Lola would almost always recognize her due to her unique style. Lilly finally found Roxy waiting just off the stage, and where Roxy was before a show, Hannah was there too. Lilly made her way over to the bodyguard and said, "Hey Roxy," pleasantly.

Roxy turned and said, "Hi there Lola. I got your usual spot all ready for you." She pointed to a spot just off the stage, behind a sheer beaded curtain. A small table with Miley's and Lilly's favorite snacks and drinks was set up in that same area, as usual.

Lilly smiled. "You're too good to us, Roxy," she said as she gave the bodyguard a hug. As she heard Miley's voice approaching, she released Roxy and made her way to Miley's side.

"Hi sweetheart!" Miley said, halting her conversation long enough to hug and kiss Lilly. "Get bored waiting in that room?" Miley asked, smiling.

"Oh yeah," Lilly answered. "Ready to watch you do your thing, Ms. Montana."

Miley smiled, and Lilly smiled in return. As they looked at each other, the local DJ currently on the stage was introducing Hannah, and as she called out Hannah's name, the crowd noise surged considerably. "Sounds like they're calling me," Miley said.

Lilly nodded. "Yep," she said as she stepped forward and gave Miley a quick kiss, being careful not to smear her lip gloss. "Knock 'em out, girlfriend!" Lilly said spiritedly.

Miley smiled and said, "Always, when it's for you." She waved to Lilly, then she stepped onto the stage and the noise surged yet again as Miley waved to the crowd and the music started.

Lilly watched her start singing and dancing and sighed. Miley was such a natural when it came to this stuff, like she was born to perform. Watching her sing never failed to get Lilly excited, on so many different levels. The simplest level was that it was Hannah Montana, whom Lilly had loved even before she knew who Hannah really was. Then it was her friend Miley, who Lilly loved to watch perform after she knew the big secret. Now it was the woman she loved with all her heart, someone she was proud of and counted herself lucky to find. Finally, this was part of hers and Miley's future, one of the two careers that would support them and their family in the years to come.

While Lilly had at first held some doubts about Miley's dreams, she had since given them up. The whole incident with the Grammys had sealed the deal, and Lilly now completely believed that somehow Miley was being given glimpses of the future. Previously, Lilly had been afraid to believe that the things Miley had foreseen would come true, mainly because thinking about a life together and especially a daughter together would be unbearably painful if they turned out to be false. But now she allowed herself to believe with her head what her heart had been telling her all along was true.

The concert seemed to race by, and before Lilly knew it, Miley was approaching the end of her set. Normally she would leave the stage and let the crowd call for an encore, but tonight she told the crowd that they had been so great, she wasn't bothering with an encore; instead, she was going to go ahead and do more songs rather than make them wait. Predictably, the crowd loved that. When they cheered, Miley looked at Lilly and grinned and waved.

After four more songs, Miley paused. _What's she doing?_ Lilly thought. _This isn't part of her show. _ _Must be __something different... or maybe this is the special whatever-it-is that she's had planned!_ Lilly was now fully tuned in, watching to see what Miley had in store.

Miley turned to Lilly and blew her a kiss. Miley then said, "I've got something special for all of you here tonight." That statement got the crowd even more excited, and the cheers increased. Miley continued, "The best rock and roll song ever recorded came from right here, in New Jersey!" Lilly smiled, as she had gone on and on about how much she loved Bruce Springsteen on many occasions with Miley. Miley said, "So tonight, I've got two special guests to help me out with my take on this song." As she spoke, two men walked onto the stage. Miley continued, saying, "While most of your parents probably recognize these two, I'd like you to put your hands together for Max Weinberg and Clarence Clemons, part of the E Street Band!"

Off to the side of the stage, Lilly had covered her mouth in surprise. _How did she get them to come out here without me knowing about it?_ she thought. Lilly realized now just how serious Miley was about making this a special night, and she hoped that everything would go smoothly. New Jersey was serious about Bruce Springsteen, and if Hannah Montana was going to cover one of his songs, she better deliver. Lilly closed her eyes and said a quick prayer for this to turn out smoothly. She knew Miley could do it, but there was always a chance for something to go wrong. She turned her attention back to the stage, where Miley was getting ready to start.

"Are you ready, New Jersey?" Miley called out, holding the microphone out to the crowd. The applause was louder now than ever, and Lilly expected that now the parents of most of Hannah's fans were yelling in excitement. Miley turned to look at Lilly and said, "This one's for you, Lola. Love you!" And with that, the drums thundered, leading into the opening strains of Springsteen's "Born to Run." Lilly stopped breathing as she listened to Hannah's band, who were all doing a great job of channeling the sound of the song. It was very smart on Miley's part to get the original drummer to set the pace for the song, as well as the original saxophonist to handle the sax solos; with the two of them on board, it was much easier for the rest of Hannah's band to fill out the rest of the song. As Miley started singing, she began with her deeper, slower voice. There was just no way she could duplicate the low, gravelly voice of Bruce Springsteen, but she didn't have to. After singing the initial lines in her lower voice, she shifted into her more natural voice. It was a higher register than the song was written for, but Miley was using her vocal strength and raw emotion to power the lyrics as she sang them. She was careful to not let herself reach too high a pitch, instead focusing on staying true to the song. The audience recognized what she was doing, applauding fiercely as she sang the first chorus.

_Yes, Miley! You're rocking it!_ Lilly thought with glee. Miley blew her a kiss, then she starting singing the second set of lyrics, using Lola's name in the song instead of the mythical Wendy Bruce had used in the song. Lilly's heart skipped a few beats when she realized what Miley had done, and she felt herself tear up slightly at the meaning behind Miley's gesture. By then Miley had finished the second chorus and was entering the third set of verses, again using Lola's name in the song. She stepped back, letting the band show its stuff, and by now they were feeling the song completely. Everyone was playing perfectly, and the sound was eerily similar to what had been recorded over thirty years ago. When the music built as the song reached the final set of lyrics, Miley ran forward, skidding to a halt at the edge of the stage as she grabbed her microphone and belted out the last lines of the song, using her full vocal range this time.

_The highway's jammed with broken heroes_

_On a last chance power drive_

_Everybody's out on the run tonight,_

_But there's no place left to hide_

_Together, Lola, we can live with the sadness_

_I'll love you with all of the madness in my soul_

_Someday girl, I don't know when, we're gonna get to that place_

_Where we really wanna go, and we'll walk in the sun_

_But 'til then, champs like us_

_Baby, we were born to run_

_Yeah, champs like us, _

_Baby, we were born to run_

As Miley repeated the last few lines, she fell to her knees, still singing her heart out, finally falling silent as the band finished out the song. As soon as Miley stopped singing and even before the band finished, the crowd exploded in cheers and applause, with Lilly yelling as loudly as anyone. Miley had put everything she had into that song, and it had shone through. As Miley started to get back to her feet, she stumbled slightly; without thinking, Lilly ran out onto the stage and helped Miley to her feet. She had to yell to be heard over the crowd as she told Miley, "That was amazing! You did the song perfectly!"

Miley smiled and said, "I had good inspiration," as she looked into Lilly's blue eyes, moist with tears. "Aw, did you cry?" she asked, both happy that she had triggered such an emotional reaction and sad that she made her best friend cry.

Lilly nodded her head and said, "Yeah, I cried." She shrugged her shoulders and said, "What can I say? It moved me." She smiled at Miley and said, "They're a bit excited about how good you did, I think," gesturing to the crowd.

Miley put her arm around Lilly, waved to the crowd and said into the microphone, "You were wonderful! Thank you, New Jersey, we love you!" Lilly waved too, because it felt like the right thing to do. Miley yelled out, "Good night! We'll see you again soon!" as she and Lilly walked off the stage to the lusty cheers of the audience.

As the band followed them off stage, everyone congratulated Miley on the great job she had done. As Miley's two special guests came off the stage, they stopped. "You know," Clarence Clemons said with a smile on his face, "I agreed to do this because my kids wouldn't let me pass up a chance to play with Hannah Montana. But you did good out there, little girl. You treated the song with respect, and we appreciate that."

Max Weinberg added, "Lots of people in my family told me I had to do this after you contacted me about covering this song. I had my doubts, but seeing how much you wanted to do this right during those practices I was at convinced me you were serious. And now, wow! You did great!" He smiled at Miley, then he turned to Lilly. "I take it this must be Lola?" he asked both the girls.

Lilly nodded her head, finding her mouth a bit too dry to form words at the moment. Miley giggled at Lilly's expression, saving her by saying, "I think she's in shock at actually meeting two members of the E Street Band." Lilly nodded fiercely to that, getting laughs out of both men. Miley turned back to the two men and said, "Please double check the list we have and make sure everyone is on it and that their names are spelled right. I'll send out a ton of stuff to everyone." She gave each man a hug. "And thank you again, both of you. You made it work tonight."

After saying good night, both the E Streeters walked off. It took Lilly another minute to find her voice, but she was at least able to wave to them as they departed. "Wow," she finally said to Miley. "I can't believe you were performing with them."

Miley smiled as she took Lilly's arm and led her toward their dressing room. "We have a quick interview to do, then I have one last special treat for you tonight, sweetheart."

Lilly smiled and said, "Yay me," getting a laugh from Miley as they walked down the hall.

**Author's Afterword:** I need to add to my disclaimers that I have no ownership over Max Weinberg, Clarence Clemons, or Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, but Miley and Lilly greatly appreciate their guest appearance in this chapter. Sorry about it taking a day longer than expected for this chapter, but it was a bit more tricky to write than I had planned on. I hope to have the next chapter out in about four or five days, maybe less, maybe more. Thanks for being patient, and I hope you're still enjoying our heroines' story!

-- Jo --


	10. Chapter 10: Instant Karma

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the positive reviews! I'm glad everyone is enjoying my story, because I'm still having great fun writing it. I have two particular reviewers I want to recognize. First, I'd like to thank **ginaa123** for her review and her comment on the Miley/Lilly relationship on the story. In the TV show, Disney has definitely written them as friends only, and that probably won't ever change. The _interpretation_ of their relationship remains a subjective one, to be defined by each viewer. So your interpretation of their relationship is every bit as valid as anyone else, and don't let anyone tell you different! The fanfic stories let us explore those different possibilities, with mine obviously interpreting them as partners as well as friends, but at the heart of _any_ relationship of theirs is the true, strong friendship.

The other reviewer I want to single out is **LaughLoveLive**, who has been writing absolutely amazing fanfics for some time. My favorite 3L pairings are Raven/Chelsea, London/Maddie, and now Miley/Lilly, and his writing on every one of those couples is just wonderful. Thank you so much for the kind words and praise for "You and Me, Together"! Those compliments from my personal favorite fanfic writer _ever_ mean a tremendous amount to me. Hope you're enjoying this tale!

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 10: Instant Karma

_Face to face_

_Eye to eye_

_You're standing there_

_Feels good on the inside_

_--_Hannah Montana"As I Am"

Miley and Lilly walked hand in hand down the concrete tunnel leading back to their dressing room. As they approached the dressing room, Miley suddenly stopped. "Wait," she said, catching Lilly by surprise.

"What is it, hon?" Lilly said, unsure of what Miley had in mind. "You not wanting to do the interview?" she asked.

Miley smiled as she said, "Actually, I was thinking we could take advantage of the empty arena and let me do a private concert for you."

Lilly thought about that for a few seconds, letting her imagination give shape to the idea. But then she smiled and said, "Aw, that's sweet hon, but I'd rather you give me a private concert at home." She gently ran her fingers along Miley's left cheek as she said, "You know, in a more... intimate setting."

Miley swallowed. "Okay, one intimate setting concert coming up as soon as we get home," she spit out quickly.

Lilly continued to stroke Miley's cheek. "And I expect at least one encore," she said seductively.

Miley was sweating. Apparently Lilly had learned how to do the sultry voice too, and she certainly did it well. Miley opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out initially. After another attempt, she said, "Yes ma'am," getting a giggle out of Lilly.

"Wow, I seem to be having quite an effect on you, Hannah," Lilly said, laughing.

Miley nodded her head. "Being totally in love with someone will do that, Lola." She hugged Lilly tightly, breathing in the scent she associated with her girlfriend, a hint of strawberries from her wig and the blonde hair hidden underneath.

Lilly didn't answer verbally; instead, she just hugged Miley back, rubbing her girlfriend's back warmly. After a minute, they stepped out of the embrace and once again held hands, resuming their walk to the dressing room.

As they reached the dressing room, Miley stepped forward and opened the door for Lilly, letting her fiancée walk into the room first. Two cameras, their cameramen, and a reporter were already camped out in the spacious room. As the girls walked in, everyone stood up. The cameramen began checking their equipment, while the reporter smiled and walked over to Miley and Lilly.

"Hi Hannah, Lola," she said pleasantly. "Thanks much for agreeing to do this interview! I'm Jenna Haswell with Entertainment Tonight, and I'll just take a bit of your time tonight. I'm sure you're both tired."

Lilly and Miley both nodded at the last statement. "Yeah," yawned Miley, "we're pretty beat." Lilly gently rubbed Miley's back as she led her over to the couch, where they both sat. Lilly then began massaging Miley's shoulders and neck, coaxing a moan of pleasure out of her lover. "That feels great, Lola," Miley said, her eyes involuntarily closing.

Lilly looked over at the reporter, who had likewise sat down across from the girls. "I suggest you go ahead and get started, because Hannah's going to crash before long. She put everything she had into that show tonight." Lilly gave Miley a kiss on the left cheek as she said, "My poor little rock star," in a baby voice that coaxed a weary smile onto Miley's face.

The reporter signaled the cameramen to begin recording, then she said, "Hannah, Lola, thanks for giving us some time to sit down and talk to you tonight. Hannah, I know you're exhausted after that amazing show you just put on tonight here in New Jersey. What prompted you to end your show tonight with a cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'Born to Run'?"

Miley opened her eyes as Lilly stopped rubbing her neck and instead settled her right arm around Miley's lower back. Miley sat up but scooted back against Lilly as she dropped her left hand onto Lilly's thigh, visually claiming Lilly as hers; at the gesture, Lilly lit up, fully understanding what Miley meant by it and quite comfortable with Miley's claim on her. When she was ready, Miley said, "Well, this _is_ New Jersey, after all. And Lola is fond of telling anyone who asks that 'Born to Run' is the best rock and roll song ever recorded. Plus, with our birthdays coming up, this was a perfect opportunity to give both the woman I love and the state of New Jersey a surprise gift tonight."

"Thank you again, Hannah," Lilly said, smiling as she hugged Miley.

"You're welcome, hon," Miley said, leaning back into the hug.

Haswell smiled at the genuine affection displayed between the young women. She then asked, "When exactly are your birthdays?"

Miley and Lilly looked at each other, but Lilly spoke this time. "Well, we'd prefer not to give you the exact dates, but they are sometime in the month of November."

Haswell took the way Lilly phrased that answer as a lead-in to another question. "Both of you seem to take great efforts to keep many details of your lives secret. Some people believe that the two of you attend a very secretive private school or are home schooled, while others believe you maintain secret identities, if you will, where you can remain out of the spotlight part of the time. Which is it?"

Lilly laughed, catching Miley by surprise. "Okay, you can't really expect us to answer that question, can you?" Lilly said. "Whatever steps we take to keep our private lives secret, we'd be crazy to list them all for you. Hannah tries very hard to give her fans everything she has when she's performing or in public, but she needs a break just like everyone else. Please respect our wishes for some privacy in at least part of our lives."

Miley smiled and looked at Lilly as she said, "Exactly, Lola." She turned to the reporter and said, "She's as smart as she is beautiful," smiling dreamily.

The next question was one the girls had learned to expect. "Have the two of you given any more thought as to the particulars of your wedding? Where it's going to be, when it will be, will it be public or private, or any other details you can share with us?"

Miley said, "We've talked about it, but we still have some time before we're getting married. We'd very much to get married before we turn eighteen if our parents will agree to it, but Lola and I both realize we have to prove to them that we're as mature as we would need to be to get married early. As for any details, right now we'd prefer not to discuss any of that since we haven't decided if the ceremony is going to be public or private. I will promise that as soon as we are married, we'll happily announce it to the public." As she finished that sentence, Miley yawned again, triggering a matching yawn from Lilly as well.

The reporter smiled warmly. "You two are really exhausted, so let's go ahead and wrap this up. One more question, if that's okay with you two." The girls nodded. "Is it true that you're going to be performing at Fashion Rocks next month, Hannah?"

Miley smiled at this question. "Yeah, plus Lola will be one of the celebrity models at the event!" she said happily. "I've very proud and honored to have been asked to perform, and I'm just as proud of my sweetheart that she was asked to model. She's going to burn that runway up!"

Lilly blushed slightly at the compliment. "You inspire me, Hannah," she said sweetly.

The reporter said, "Please forgive me, but I would like to ask one more question if that's okay." The girls nodded again, giving her permission to continue. "How comfortable are the two of you with becoming models, if not icons, for the gay and lesbian community?" she asked.

Miley and Lilly looked at each other, both just slightly caught off guard by the question. "Are we really?" asked Lilly with all sincerity. Haswell nodded. "Wow," Lilly said. "Well, I'm totally in love with Hannah, so I'm comfortable with anything that comes with that," she said. "And if it means we can help others realize that love is always beautiful when it's between two people mature enough to make their own decisions, then I'm quite happy with that."

Miley nodded as she said, "I agree totally with Lola. We didn't set out to become some sort of role models or gay activists; we just fell in love and are going to spend the rest of our lives together." The two girls giggled at that, then they hugged each other briefly, keeping their arms around each other when they ended the hug. After tearing her gaze away from Lilly, Miley continued, "But we realize and accept that being celebrities means we _are_ role models for girls today. What we want to promote is that we should be accepting of others even if they're different than what we're used to, we should love each other rather than be hurtful or critical, and that you don't need to drink, do drugs, smoke or sleep around to be cool. That kind of risky behavior is destroying more girls and young women every day, and it needs to stop." Miley sat straight up, releasing her grip on Lilly and instead taking Lilly's hand in hers. She looked directly into the camera and said with a strong voice, "Don't throw your life away with drugs, alcohol or any other self-destructive behavior. Celebrate love and celebrate your life by showing respect for yourself, your parents, and your family. If your friends try to get you to do things that could hurt you or get you into trouble, then they're not really your friends. Is it worth possibly throwing your life or future away just to impress some people who really don't care about you? If they did care about you, why would they ask you to do something like that to begin with?"

Haswell looked dumbstruck as Miley finished her statement. "Wow, that's a beautiful statement, Hannah."

Lilly hugged Miley just a bit tighter and said to Haswell, "She's something special." She then softly said to Miley, "I love you."

Haswell smiled and said, "You two young ladies are truly shaping up to be excellent role models for girls and young women around the country, gay and straight. Your courage in coming out has energized the gay community while also promoting acceptance among the straight community. Your charity contributions, involvement with reading and arts programs in the Los Angeles area, and positive messages to avoid drugs and alcohol have been strong signals to teenagers and even preteens. The messages you promote are messages sorely needed today: respect others, help others, respect yourself." She smiled at Miley and Lilly. "All of us at ET wish you young ladies nothing but the best."

"Thank you," said Miley as Lilly said, "Thanks," at the same time.

The cameramen turned off their cameras and began checking the playback, while the reporter walked over and shook Miley's and Lilly's hands. "You two are every bit as sweet as people say," she said, a warm smile on her face. "I haven't worked in this business that long, but I've already seen enough hypocrites for one lifetime. It's nice to see people who really are good and caring. Good luck with your lives together."

Miley smiled and said, "Thank you. And thanks for keeping the interview short." Lilly yawned loudly, prompting Miley to say, "I think it's time for us to head out."

"You can say that again," Lilly said, her voice heavy with sleep. Roxy appeared seemingly out of nowhere to help Miley and Lilly make their way to the limousine. As the girls piled into the back of the limo, they curled up on the back seat, Lilly resting on Miley's body, their heads supported by their jackets.

In no time they were at the airport. It took Robbie Ray and Roxy some concerted effort to rouse Miley and Lilly, but the cold, bitter wind helped stir them into wakefulness. Lilly shivered as she climbed out of the car first. "Brrrr!" she said, reaching for Miley to help her climb out. Miley tried to hand Lilly her jacket, but instead Lilly just pulled Miley close to her as they ran to the jet. By the time they climbed the steps and were safely in the warmth of the airplane, both of them were rather chilled.

Without saying a word, they made their way back to the rear passenger compartment, again closing the door and separating it from the rest of the plane. Once they were in their private section, Miley pulled out the sleeper bed from the sofa, while Lilly began stripping off her clothes. As soon as the bed was opened, Lilly, now nude, grabbed two blankets and spread them over the fold-out bed. Miley began shedding clothes as well, tossing them in the floor. As her bra hit the floor, she said, "What are we going to do with our wigs, Lilly?"

Lilly had slid under the covers without removing her wig; in fact, she hadn't even thought about it until Miley brought the subject up. "Might as well leave 'em on, I guess," she said sleepily.

Miley smiled and said, "'Kay," stepping forward and lying down beside her lover as Lilly held the sheets open for her. Miley scooted against Lilly's warm body, enjoying the respite from the chill that had settled in her bones from the freezing New Jersey air. Lilly adjusted her position, allowing Miley maximum body contact as she wrapped her arms protectively around Lilly, the woman she loved more than anything she had ever known. As Miley closed her eyes, she heard Lilly giggle softly. "Wha's so funny, Lil?" Miley said.

Lilly's eyes twinkled as Miley gazed into them. "I just realized this'll be the first time Hannah and Lola have slept together," she said, a hint of mischief in her eyes.

Though Miley was exhausted, the glimmer of desire in Lilly's eyes ignited a fire deep inside her, burning away some of her fatigue. As the airplane began taxiing toward takeoff, Miley said, "You know, my daddy and Roxy are in the next room." However, the prospect of them making love for the first time as Hannah and Lola was pretty darned erotic, and Miley felt her own desire rising inside her. She leaned over and kissed Lilly as the engines' roar increased. As the kiss deepened and they shifted their hands into better positions on each other's body, they barely registered the airplane picking up speed and eventually taking off. As the wheels left the ground, Miley shifted her legs to let Lilly's hand find its target, gasping at the burning touch of the only person she would ever be intimate with. "Oh Lola..." Miley moaned softly, her eyes clenched shut in pleasure.

Lilly used her other arm to pull Miley back down against her so she could resume kissing her. "You like that, Hannah?" she asked hungrily between kisses.

"Uh huh," Miley was able to whisper before her own warm touch made Lilly shiver with excitement. The gasping of her lover quickly pushed Miley over the edge of orgasm, as Lilly likewise bucked under Miley after just a minute of her lover's sensual touch. As they cooled down, it took a few moments before either of them was breathing regularly. Miley finally opened her eyes and looked at Lilly in amazement. "Honey, you must have been wound _tight_!" she said, planting soft kisses on Lilly's neck.

Lilly laughed as she said, "Oh sweetheart, you have _no_ idea! Well, maybe you do now," she said, smiling a very contented smile. "I've been wanting you all evening, and it's been killing me to hold it in." She ran her fingertips lightly up and down Miley's back, getting shivers from Miley as a result. Lilly's playful mood once again surfaced as she purred, "I think I still have some tension deep inside me, Hannah." She kissed Miley on the lips and continued, "Want to help work it out? We do have a few hours before we land."

Miley grinned as she rose to her knees in the bed, tossing the covers off. "Anything for you, Lola," she said, desire dripping in her voice as she pounced on her future wife.

By the time the plane was making its approach in Malibu, Lilly and Miley had definitely relieved every bit of tension that either of them possessed. They were awakened by a knock at the door to their section of the plane.

"Hannah! Lola!" Roxy yelled as she knocked on the door. "We're getting' ready to land this thing, so you ladies better wake up and get strapped in!"

"Okay, thanks Roxy!" yelled Miley as she and Lilly both began to stir. They felt the nose of the plane start to dip, so they simply grabbed their blankets and threw one over the love seat, sat down and buckled their seat belts, then covered with the second blanket. The pilot quickly had them on the ground with minimal bumpiness, and as the plane began to taxi to the private hangar, they got up and got dressed again.

As Lilly pulled her shirt on, she said, "Our bed is going to feel so good!" It was just before midnight in Malibu, and the girls were very grateful for the three hours of sleep they would gain from the time zone difference.

Miley smiled at her as she slipped Hannah's jacket on. "Yeah, tell me about it," she said. She sat back down on the bed, reaching out for Lilly with her arms. Lilly obligingly crossed over to Miley, sitting down on the bed beside her. "Although we did pretty good with this bed right here," she said, her blue eyes sparkling as she held Lilly close.

"Yes, we did," Lilly said, her voice thick with both sleep and desire as she nuzzled against Miley's neck.

Their interlude was cut short as Roxy began pounding on the door. "Are you two up yet? You girls are movin' slow as my momma's molasses!"

Miley and Lilly both laughed at that comment. They stood and swiftly crossed the compartment to the door, carrying their remaining clothes with them. Lilly opened the door for Miley, then followed her girlfriend into the main compartment of the plane. "What time is it?" Miley asked sleepily.

"Too late or too early, dependin' on which time zone you're talkin' about," Robbie Ray said. Just then the plane gently came to a halt. "Looks like we're ready to unload," he said. As soon as the attendant was ready, the four of them hurried to the door and swiftly climbed down the steps.

"Oh, that feels so good!" Lilly said, enjoying the late night warmth in the air of Malibu.

"Yeah, feels great," Miley mumbled. "Now get your butt in the limo so we can get home," she said as she gently pushed Lilly toward the limousine. Lilly happily went along, opening the door for Miley then falling in behind her.

The changeover in the secure parking garage went so quickly that neither Miley or Lilly really woke up. In a few more minutes they were back at the Stewarts' house. Roxy and Robbie Ray helped the exhausted girls get inside the house, but once they were inside, Miley and Lilly were awake enough to make it upstairs on their own.

As they trudged upstairs, Lilly took off her wig and began taking off her shirt. When they made it into their room, she shut the door while Miley took off her wig and hung it and Lilly's wig back up in their closet. The clothes, however, just got tossed in the floor, with the exception of Miley's leather jacket. Lilly carefully picked it up where Miley had thrown it in the floor and hung it back up in the closet.

As Lilly came back out of the closet, she heard the toilet flush and was then treated to seeing her lover walk to the bed wearing just a light nightshirt. Lilly couldn't help but smile as she made a beeline to the bathroom to empty her own bladder; as soon as she was done, she washed her hands and climbed into bed without even a nightshirt on. After just a few seconds, Miley's nightshirt was off as well. However, both young women were so tired that they knew any more lovemaking would be too much tonight. Instead, they curled up, content with simply holding each other close as they once more fell back into peaceful slumber.

The girls slept the entire morning, finally getting up around one o'clock. After stretching, showering and getting dressed, they went down to the beach, playing in the ocean for a while, then going to Rico's to hang out with some of their friends. Before they knew it, the day was ending.

As they walked to Lilly's house, Miley said, "I had a great time with you this weekend, Lilly. And happy birthday." She hugged her fiancée tightly as she spoke, enjoying the feel of Lilly against her body.

"Same here, Miles, and thank you again," Lilly said, smiling as she looked at her partner. "What are we going to tell my parents about our car?" she asked.

Miley hadn't thought about that too much. "Good question," she said. "Let's not tell 'em just yet. We can wait until we actually get our licenses later in the week, then we can show them." While today was Lilly's birthday, Lilly had already told Miley that she was going to wait the two days between their birthdays so they could take their tests together and get their licenses at the same time. "And Lilly, it's _your_ car. I got it for you."

"Okay, waiting to tell them works for me," Lilly said. "I mean, my mom we can just tell the truth, since she already knows about us, but we do need to come up with something for my dad." She moved her arm from around Miley's waist, under the pretense of adjusting her shorts. "And even if you got that car just for me, I'm giving part of it to you. Partners share everything, remember?" She then pinched Miley's butt through her shorts, getting a yelp and a leap forward from her lover.

"Ow," said Miley, rubbing her bottom. Her fake pout look didn't last too long, however. She was simply too happy with her weekend and their birthday gifts to even act upset. She smiled back at Lilly as they approached the Truscott house. "Hey, I don't see your dad's car. Maybe he took your brother to play golf or something."

As they opened the door and went inside, they saw Lilly's mother in the kitchen, fixing dinner. Lilly walked over first as she said, "Hi Mom!" and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. Miley followed suit, hugging and giving a similar cheek kiss to the woman she already saw as her mother-in-law. "Thanks for letting Lilly come with me this weekend, Mrs. Truscott. We had a fabulous time!"

Lilly walked back into the kitchen, having checked the living room and down the hall for any signs of anyone else in the house. "Is it just the three of us, Mom?" she asked.

"Yes, dear," Mrs. Truscott answered. "Your father and your brother went to some store in Los Angeles to pick up one of your birthday presents. And happy birthday, Lilly," she said with a warm smile.

"Which store did they go to? And thanks, Mom," Lilly replied with an identical smile.

Her mother turned to look back at her. "Oh no, Lillian, you're not getting me to tell you that, because it'd give away what the present is!" She turned back to the stove, stirring a medium pot casting a warm, spicy aroma into the kitchen air.

Miley grinned at Lilly's attempt to trick information out of her mother. She decided to try and gently nudge the conversation back on track. "Hannah and Lola got interviewed for Entertainment Tonight after the concert this weekend," she said.

"Oh, how exciting!" Mrs. Truscott said. "When will it be on television?" She had grown to enjoy following the activities the two girls got into in their secret identities as celebrities, and she had proven to be very capable at keeping their big secret.

Lilly answered, "Not sure just yet. Probably this week sometime." She looked at Miley, silently saying, _Might as well tell her now._ "Mom?" she said. "I'm going to tell you what Miley got me for my birthday, but you can't freak out, okay?"

Her mother took the pot off the hot burner and moved it another burner not in use. As she set the pot down, she turned to look at the two girls. "Is it an animal of some sort?" she asked, with a worried expression on her face.

Lilly smiled. "No Mom, it's not an animal." She waited a second or two, then she said, "She got me a car."

Lilly's mother froze. Slowly she looked back and forth between Miley and Lilly, her face registering surprise. "Miley..." she said. "Did you really..."

Miley grinned and said, "Yup. And Lilly deserves it! She's the best friend, the best girlfriend, the best wife I could ever have!" She hugged Lilly tightly, ending their embrace with a lingering kiss.

"Thank you," Lilly said, their noses lightly touching. "You're one in a billion yourself, lover."

"What are you going to do for gas, Lilly?" her mother asked. "Will you have to get a job?"

"That's the coolest part, Mom!" Lilly said excitedly. "It's an electric car! It doesn't use gas!"

"Really?" her mother asked, looking to Miley, who nodded in return.

Miley said, "Whenever we can get it set up, I'd like to have them put a solar charging station over here at your house, so Lilly can charge the car for free. Using the solar station, it won't use any electricity at all from the house." Miley smiled, then she said, "We do need a car, Mrs. Truscott. This car is totally safe, it only seats us, it's really affordable to drive and neither of us will have to get a job to pay for gas."

Lilly snorted. "As if you don't already have a job, Miles," she said jokingly. That got a laugh from Lilly's mother as well.

Mrs. Truscott said, "I don't think paying for gas would be much of a problem for you either, Miley."

Miley blushed and said, "Well, the car looked so cute and so cool, that I just wanted Lilly to have it, okay?"

Lilly kissed Miley again and said, "And thank you again, Miley."

Mrs. Truscott turned to her daughter. "And what did you get Miley for her birthday, dear?"

Lilly tried not to blush as she said, "I made Miley a DVD of us from pictures and videos of us that I collected from lots of different people. We finally got to watch it this afternoon." Wisely, she left out the part about the leather book she had also given Miley. That was a gift that had to stay between the two of them.

Miley beamed as she said, "It's so special, I cried twice while we were watching it."

Lilly said, "Yeah, me too. Looking at those old pictures of us is really bittersweet, because now I can clearly see our feelings for each other in them, but we were too confused or too frightened to act on them yet."

Miley lightly swatted Lilly's hand. "No apologies for the past, remember?" she said. "We wouldn't have--"

"--appreciated it then like we do now," Lilly finished for Miley. She smiled at Miley. "You're right. Forgive me?"

"Always," Miley said. "For anything." She knew she needed to be getting home, because school was coming early in the morning. "Okay, Lil, I need to head home," she said. "Bye Mrs. Truscott," Miley said, walking to the door.

"Good night, Miley!" Lilly's mother said. "Be careful walking home."

"I will," Miley answered her. As she and Lilly reached the door, Miley opened it and stepped outside, where she turned to tell Lilly good night. "Love you," she said softly as she kissed Lilly good night.

"Mmmm, love you too hon," Lilly answered, licking her lips as they broke their kiss. "Thank you again for my wonderful gifts."

"You're welcome," Miley said. "And thank you again for mine. Happy birthday, sweetie." The girls embraced, then kissed softly once again. Miley then waved and turned to walk home.

Lilly watched her until she was out of sight, then she went back inside to give her mom the details on the car, which Lilly knew she was dying to see, but her mom would have to wait until Wednesday, when Lilly got her license. And for now, she and Miley still had to decide what to tell her father and brother...

The next morning did indeed come rather early. As Miley and Lilly both went through their separate morning rituals in different houses, both could feel the other's absence clearly. It seemed that the more time they spent with each other, the greater the pangs of loneliness when they were apart. However, both young women understood and dealt with the loneliness. It was important that they had some time apart from each other, for it gave them "alone time" and also made the time they had together more special.

When Miley set off to school, she saw Lilly approaching on her skateboard. _Funny, _Miley thought,_ this is almost exactly the same place we were when Lilly crashed that morning. THE morning. The day when we admitted that we loved each other. _The city had fixed the broken sidewalk, but now there was a rather large lip between the repaired section and the old sidewalk. As Miley watched Lilly approach, she saw Lilly wave, then execute a perfect kickflip over the lip, landing without losing any speed as she rode toward Miley.

When Lilly got close to Miley, she flipped her board over and landed on her feet, running slightly as she came to a stop. She bent down to pick up her board, then she looked at Miley and said, "Hi," smiling at her fiancée.

"Hi yourself," Miley replied. Without further talk, the two kissed deeply, pulling each other close. As they parted, Miley, still with her eyes closed, said, "Oh, I _so_ needed that."

Lilly grinned as she said, "Me too." She released Miley and tucked her skateboard into her backpack, the end sticking out of the top, then she turned so they could continue their walk to school together. "Mom's driving me crazy about wanting to see the car," she said to Miley.

Miley laughed. "Sorry hon, I didn't think about that."

"It's okay," said Lilly. "She's just thrilled about you getting that for me." She took Miley's hand and looked far ahead, off into the distance. "Before long we're going to be driving to school together," she said dreamily.

Miley smiled and squeezed Lilly's hand. "I think we should tell people that my dad bought the car for us to share. We could say that he got a bonus for some songs he's written and that he used that to get the car for us. I mean, we really do share everything, and that way no one will think it's weird." She paused. "Well, relatively speaking."

As they walked into the school, both of them looked around, searching for any sign of Amber and Ashley. Lilly said, "I feel like something's going to happen, but I'm just not sure what."

Miley was likewise worried. "Have you come up with anything to try and get back at them yet for hurting you?" She knew exactly whom Lilly was worried about.

Lilly shook her head. "No, and to be really honest, I'm not sure I want to." She turned to look at Miley as they opened their lockers. "I'm not comfortable taking things to where someone might really get hurt. That's not a prank, that's dangerous."

"I agree with you there, Lilly," Miley said. "It's not worth someone getting hurt, unless it's to defend you."

"Or you," Lilly replied. "But for revenge? No way."

Once they had their books together, they set off for Ms. Jolly's algebra class, their first class of the day. As they took their seats, the bell rang. Once Ms. Jolly walked in, everyone quietened down. Ms. Jolly took one look at the class and said, "Ms. Stewart and Ms. Truscott! You two are needed in the principal's office right now." Everyone turned to look at Miley and Lilly, who were somewhat surprised at that statement.

As the girls gathered their books and left the class, Miley said, "Did we do something?" Even trying as hard as she could, she couldn't come up with any reason why they had been called to the principal's office.

Lilly shook her head. "Uh uh. Nothing. Unless this is about the soccer game, maybe."

As they reached the principal's office, Lilly opened the door for Miley, following her fiancée inside. The secretary smiled at them and said, "Right back to Mr. Young's office, girls." Seaview's current principal was relatively new, having taken over in the middle of the year. Neither girl had dealt with him yet, so they were unsure of what to expect. Even so, they were totally unprepared for what awaited them in the conference room adjacent to the principal's office. As they walked in, they saw both Amber and Ashley looking quite angry, Mr. Young, Lilly's soccer coach Ms. Larkins, Kaela and two more of Lilly's teammates, Gina Giles and Jamie Escante. Miley pulled out a seat for Lilly, then she sat beside her girlfriend.

Mr. Young said, "Alright, now that Ms. Stewart and Ms. Truscott have joined us, we can get started as soon as--" He was cut off by the door opening to admit the Malibu School Superintendent, Dr. Frank Vickers.

"Sorry David, traffic held me up slightly," Dr. Vickers said as he sat down. "Is everyone here?"

Mr. Young nodded. He gestured to Lilly as he said, "Ms. Truscott here was the young lady who apparently had a bounty posted on her during the soccer game last week." He turned to Amber and Ashley and said, "And these two young ladies are apparently the ones who instigated the whole matter. According to Thousand Oaks' principal, whom I talked to over the weekend, several players on their soccer team admitted to being offered money for hurting or trying to hurt Ms. Truscott."

Miley and Lilly turned to look at each other. Kaela smiled at them as they cautiously exchanged a smile. Never did they actually think Amber and Ashley would get in trouble for what they had done, but it appeared that was about to happen.

Mr. Young continued, "After the game several of our soccer ladies decided to exact their own revenge in the women's restroom by means of dunking Ms. Addison's and Ms. Dewitt's heads in toilets." His stern look at Kaela, Jamie and Gina left no doubt as to how he felt about that stunt. "And over the weekend I've heard rumors about a confrontation at a local bowling alley."

Lilly blurted out, "But Jen helped stop that before Amber, Ashley and their crew could start anything with us!" The heads turning to regard her made her flinch. "Shutting up now," she said softly, taking Miley's hand under the table for support.

Dr. Vickers said, "Yes, I've already dealt with Ms. Kittrell's situation. While she has been suspended for her actions on the field during the soccer game, her motives were surprisingly noble, as she was trying to protect one of her teammates. Because of that, I am allowing her to attend the championship game in uniform, but she will _not_ be allowed to play because of her red card. However, if Seaview wins that game, she will be allowed to play in the regional and district tournaments."

Mr. Young spoke as Dr. Vickers paused. "However, we're not here to discuss that matter. We're all here to deal with two young ladies conspiring with others to injure Ms. Truscott, a student-athlete at this school, during a soccer game. I also understand that part of the motivation for this action was retaliation for Ms. Stewart blasting Ms. Addison and Ms. Dewitt in the lunchroom last week over another matter."

Seeing that Dr. Vickers didn't get the connection between retaliating against Miley by hurting Lilly, Mr. Young said to the superintendent, "Ms. Truscott and Ms. Stewart are engaged, Frank." Seeing that he still didn't quite get it, Mr. Young added, "To each other. They're a couple." Miley and Lilly smiled as they helpfully held out their left hands to show him their engagement rings, something they had really grown to love doing.

Miley spoke up before she thought better of it. "Hurting Lilly hit me harder than if they'd actually done something to me, sir," she said quickly.

Dr. Vickers regarded Miley and Lilly for a minute, then he turned to Lilly's teammates. "I take the safety of my city's students very seriously. I understand that each of you has contributed in some way to this feud, but everything else pales in comparison to paying another school's students to injure a classmate." He looked squarely at Amber and Ashley. "You two are hereby suspended for a week. Be thankful I don't throw you out of school entirely." He turned to look at Miley, Lilly, Kaela, Gina and Jamie. "As for the rest of you, this feud ends _NOW_. If I hear anything about any sort of retaliation, threats, attacks or anything stronger than ugly looks, I _will_ make someone regret it. Do you all understand?" Everyone nodded their head. He stood. "Good. Then this matter is dealt with, as far as I'm concerned."

As Mr. Young likewise stood, he turned to the superintendent. "Thanks again, Frank," he said.

"Anytime, David. And good luck in the championship game," he said with a smile as the two men shook hands.

Mr. Young turned back to the other students. "The rest of you can go. Amber, Ashley, you stay put until I can contact your parents." He turned to look at Miley and Lilly. "Ms. Truscott, I apologize for your getting hurt," he said.

Lilly smiled and said, "I'm doing fine now, Mr. Young. Miley took good care of me this weekend." She hugged Miley before she even thought about how that might not have been the best idea, but she didn't try to hide it or take it back. _ I will not be ashamed or embarrassed about being in love with Miley, even if it gets me in trouble,_ she thought.

Mr. Young gave her a smile. "Good. You girls get back to class now."

As they filed out of the conference room, Coach Larkins said to Lilly, "I'm glad you're feeling better, Lilly. Feel like practicing some this week?"

Lilly nodded her head. "Except for Wednesday. Miley and I are taking our driving tests that day!" She and Miley looked at each other and grinned.

Coach Larkins smiled at the two young women and said, "Okay, you're excused from Wednesday practice. I'll see you after school tomorrow, then. Take today off, because I want you rested up and ready to go for the game Thursday."

"You got it, Coach!" Lilly said cheerfully. "Ready to go back to class, Miles?" she asked Miley.

"Yep," Miley answered. She turned to the coach and said, "Thanks for being good to my girl, Coach," then she and Lilly stepped out of the office and returned to class.

The rest of the day went very smoothly. Miley and Lilly caught up with Oliver at lunch and filled him in what had happened with Amber and Ashley. As expected, he was thrilled, but he had already heard most of the details from a friend of his. Lilly and Miley knew better than to ask whom his source was.

After Monday, Tuesday went quickly, but on Wednesday school seemed to crawl. When it was finally over, Lilly and Miley raced outside, where Robbie Ray was waiting for them.

"Well, it sure looks like you two are rarin' to go take that drivin' test!" he said, amused at watching them run to the Suburban.

Not a word was said until Miley and Lilly had both hopped into the car, then Miley said, "Punch it, Dad! We've got a test to take!"

Since the girls had been practicing for several weeks now, they did quite well on both the written and the road tests. Neither of them made a perfect score, but both of them passed easily. As they sat for their pictures, they tried to make each other laugh, resulting in several retakes for each. Finally, both of them had pictures they could live with, and they danced around as they were waiting for the licenses to print. As the clerk handed the still-warm licenses over, they looked over them carefully, examining every inch of them. Together they looked up at each other and started laughing, doing happy dances in the middle of the Department of Motor Vehicles office. Finally they settled down after getting several stern looks from other patrons, and they went outside where Robbie Ray was waiting.

"We got 'em!" Miley yelled, running over to her father and hugging him fiercely. "Thank you so much for practicing with us both, Daddy," she said. Lilly piled into the group hug, hugging both Miley and Robbie Ray.

"You two are totally welcome!" Robbie Ray said. He extricated himself from the tight hugs and pulled a letter out of his jacket pocket. "And yesterday we got your letter from our Representative. You two have got special permission from the California DMV to ride together!"

One of California's laws governing graduated drivers' licenses for teen drivers stipulates that no teenage drivers with less than a year's experience may transport a passenger under the age of twenty without a licensed driver over age twenty-five in the front passenger seat. Miley and Lilly had previously written a letter last month to their U.S. Representative explaining that their car had only room for one passenger, that they were engaged with plans to be married soon, and that the car would be used mainly to travel to school and back. In the letter, they had asked for the DMV to grant them permission to ride together, since they lived together (they fudged a bit on that statement, but not by much) and simply couldn't be transporting any other passengers due to the two-seat design of their car.

Miley and Lilly had been anxious about the response they'd receive to their request. But it appeared that they would indeed be allowed to ride together now. As they looked over the letter, Lilly said, "We still need to ride with your dad some more, Miley. Especially at night."

Miley nodded her head. "Yeah, it looks like the permission only extends to nine o'clock at night. So we can't be out later than that together. At least not by ourselves."

"Well, at least we get to ride together during the day!" Lilly said cheerily. She turned to Robbie Ray. "Can one of us drive home, Mr. Stewart?"

"O' course, darlin'!" he said. As they climbed into the Suburban with Miley in the driver's seat, he said, "By the way, there's another letter that came today. I left it at the house for you two to read later. I hadn't read it yet, but if you want me to read it first, I'd be happy to."

That was an odd thing to say. Miley asked, "Who's it from?"

Robbie Ray said, "You can find out when you get home. Right now, you just concentrate on that there road, bud."

The drive home went smoothly. The months of practice had definitely paid off for both girls, as they were capable and careful drivers. As they pulled into the driveway, Miley parked the car, then she and Lilly jumped out of the car. While initially they were eager to take Lilly's car out for a drive, now there was the matter of the mysterious letter.

The girls ran inside, where Miley went over to the stack of mail on the desk next to the door. She sifted through the letters until she found the one they were looking for. "Sweet niblets," she said, reading the name on the return address. _Jake Ryan_.

Miley felt Lilly bristle up as she also read the name. Immediately after the girls had begun dating, Jake had tried to blackmail Miley into posing as his girlfriend. He had also threatened to hurt both Miley and Lilly if she refused to play along with his plan. When he actually hit Miley, Lilly fought him off until he overpowered her by attacking her from behind when she turned to check on Miley. At that point, Oliver had hit Jake with Lilly's skateboard, breaking Jake's arm. Oliver had also recorded the entire exchange to keep Jake from revealing Miley's secret life as Hannah Montana. Since that altercation, no one had heard anything from Jake Ryan.

"Are you sure you want to open it, Miley?" Lilly asked nervously. Her biggest fear for years had been that Miley would fall in love with Jake, which would end any chance for a romance between her and Miley. But now she knew that nothing would ever break the two of them apart, not even the famous Jake Ryan. Still, Lilly knew that Miley's memories involving Jake were mostly painful, and she wanted to spare her girlfriend that pain if at all possible.

Miley looked at the envelope as she considered Lilly's question. "Yes," she said. She turned to look at Lilly, whose eyes were tearing up slightly.

"I'm sorry, Miley, I know you're never going to leave me, it's just that..." Lilly said haltingly. "My emotions when it comes to him and how he's hurt us both in the past are, like, really stormy."

Miley smiled at Lilly and hugged her. "I know, sweetheart, I know. Believe me, I know." She felt herself tearing up as well; this was a very raw subject for both of them still. "But you're right in that nothing is ever going to break us apart. I have you here to read this letter with me, and no matter what it may say, I love you and I will always love you." Miley put her hands on Lilly's shoulders so she could hold her as she looked into Lilly's eyes. "You are my future, Lilly Truscott. We are going to get married, build our future together, and have children together. Nothing in this letter," she said as she removed one hand to shake the letter, "will do anything to change any of that or make us love each other any less."

Lilly moved in close to hug Miley tightly. "You're right, hon. And I'll gladly read it with you. I think it's best if we do read it together."

Miley smiled as she said, "C'mon, let's sit down and read it." They went to the couch, where they sat down before Miley tore open the letter. Inside was a single sheet of paper with handwritten lines on it. Together they read the letter:

_Miley, I know that what I did and what I tried to do to you and Lilly was terrible. I'm not making any excuses, because nothing could completely excuse my behavior. However, I would like you to know that for the past eight months, I've had a problem. Here they call it "polysubstance abuse and dependence." It started with some drinks, then someone I thought was a friend got me taking pills she brought me. It made me feel good in the beginning, but before long it started interfering with work. I missed rehearsals, my acting suffered, and I became... somebody else. Somebody I didn't like._

_When it got to the point that my television show was canceled, I knew my problem had gotten really bad. But I still thought I could handle it. I just needed something to keep my career going. So I came after you. When I think about what I said to you, about the things I threatened to do, it scares me. As weird as this may sound, I'm glad that Lilly and Oliver stopped me from hurting you. Getting hurt was what showed me I was out of control. Because of that, I went into a really nice rehab program. It's been a long process, but I've been clean for over a month now, and I'm never going back to the place I was at._

_You don't have to worry about me trying to get in touch with you any more, other than this letter. I'm writing this to you because I need to apologize to you and to Lilly for what I've done to you in the past so I can move on. I now understand that you and Lilly really do love each other, and every time I see the two of you on television or in a magazine, you both look really happy. I'm glad for both of you, because you're both really great. Thank you for making me realize what a monster I had become, and thank you for setting me on a path where I could get better. I wish you two the best for your lives together._

_Jake_

As they finished reading the letter, Lilly said, "Wow."

Miley softly said, "You can say that again."

Lilly looked at her with a grin on her face and said, "Wow," prompting Miley to swat her with the letter. When Miley settled back down, Lilly said, "That was nice of him. It's almost enough to make me forgive him."

Miley had a pensive look on her face as she said, "I know what you mean. I mean, he's apologizing and everything, but it's going to take me a long time to get past him threatening and hurting you."

Lilly said, "Same here, Miles, same here. But maybe he's got another chance at life now." She paused, then said, "I hope he doesn't screw this one up." She stood up, grabbing Miley's left arm and pulling her to her feet. "Now put that letter down and let's go for a drive, girlfriend!"

Miley grinned as she tossed the letter in the trash. "Anything for you, Lilly," she said as she walked across the room with Lilly, not looking back.

**Author's Afterword:** The next chapter brings us to the Fashion Rocks event and begins the girls' Christmas Break in Tennessee! I expect it's going to be a bit longer than most chapters, so bear with me and try to be patient as I get it typed. Like I said, the story writes itself, but sometimes it takes turns I'm not expecting, and those turns usually wind up taking longer than I had planned. But being true to the story is worth it, in my opinion. I'm sure Lilly and Miley will enjoy spending time together as the next chapter coalesces. See you soon!

-- Jo --


	11. Chapter 11: Burning for You

**Author's Note:** Welcome back! Thanks for the sweet reviews, and sorry for the terribly long time between updates. I'm making up for it by making this chapter a bit longer. This chapter picks up almost exactly one month after Chapter 10. For those of you interested, the Stewarts and Truscotts had a rather large joint Thanksgiving celebration on the beach, giving everyone the chance to get to know each other better. The dinner was a big success, and everyone had a fabulous time! For my standard disclaimers, please see Chapter 1. Additionally, I make no claims on nor do I intend to infringe on either the "Transformers" movie or the Fashion Rocks event. Such an event used to be put on by VH1, and it may still go on today but I'm simply not sure. However, it was a great idea, and I hope all of you can get an idea of the fun energy that such an event possessed.

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 11: Burning for You

_Your kisses lift me higher_

_Like the sweet song of the choir_

_You light my morning sky_

_With burning love_

_--_Wynonna Judd, covering Elvis Presley's"Burnin' Love"

Lilly Truscott had a spring in her step as she walked down the sidewalk to her fiancée Miley Stewart's house. It was chilly for Malibu, with the temperature currently in the high fifties due to it being early in the morning, but the high was still projected at only the high sixties. It was Wednesday, December 20th, and this was going to be the last day of school before winter break for Lilly and Miley. While Seaview High School would be open for half a day tomorrow, Lilly and Miley wouldn't be there. Tomorrow evening in New York City, Hannah Montana was scheduled to perform at Fashion Rocks, and Lola Luftnagle was going to be one of the celebrity models. After that, Lilly would be going with Miley to Tennessee to celebrate Christmas with Miley's family there.

Lilly was beyond excited at accompanying her fiancée to her home state. While she had met some of Miley's extended family, now she would be meeting the rest of them, as well as spending several days with them. On Christmas Day the girls were flying back home to Malibu, where they would spend that evening with Lilly's extended family.

As excited as Lilly was, she was also more than a bit nervous. She was uncertain exactly how some of Miley's family would treat the two of them. She knew that Miley's Aunt Dolly knew about Miley and Lilly being in love and engaged, and she was almost certain that Miley grandmother Ruthie knew. But she knew very little about some of the other members of Miley's family. She was looking forward to meeting Uncle Earl, as she'd heard many, many stories about him from Miley and her father Robbie Ray. She was also anxious to meet Bobby Ray, Miley's uncle and Robbie Ray's twin brother. But Bobby Ray's daughter? THAT was someone Lilly had absolutely no desire to ever see again.

The only time Miley's cousin Luanne had come to visit Miley in Malibu, Lilly was struck by both how much she looked and how little she acted like Miley. Miley's family and Lilly had both dismissed Miley's characterization of Luanne as an "evil genius," and Miley's secret life as Hannah Montana had very nearly been exposed as a result. Luanne had proved to be every bit the evil genius Miley made her out to be, and Lilly never wanted to see her ever again. Thankfully, Miley had reassured Lilly that Luanne was enrolled in a military school in Wyoming, where she was closely monitored and restricted from leaving the facility or even having contact with anyone outside her father and mother. Her parents had even gone so far as to secretly have a GPS monitoring chip implanted under Luanne's skin when she had undergone surgery for removal of a cyst a few months ago.

As Lilly reached Miley's house, she took out her house key and unlocked the door, walking inside. Lilly and Miley both considered each family's house to be theirs, and both families had readily accepted the other girl as part of the family. In truth, the only thing keeping Miley and Lilly from being married was their age. Both girls had just recently turned sixteen, and they knew it would still be some time before they could be officially married. Lilly had found a wedding facility in the Canadian side of Niagara Falls that specialized in same-sex weddings, and that was where she and Miley were planning on being officially married. Their plan was to get married shortly after their seventeenth birthdays next November, but they were waiting to ask their parents until sometime around spring next year.

"Morning Stewarts!" Lilly cheerfully called out as she closed and relocked the front door. She carried her backpack over to the couch and dropped it with a soft thump. She turned to look at the stairs as her fiancée came barreling down them.

"Hi honey!" Miley said, rushing over to give Lilly a hug and then a lingering kiss. "Ready for school?"

"Oh yeah," said Lilly. "Ready for it to be over is more like it!"

Miley smiled as she said, "Oh yeah! So, I think the plan still is to stay here tonight and just chill out, then we fly to New York in the morning, party and rock the house at Fashion Rocks, then we spend the night there. Next morning, we fly down to Tennessee and you get to meet the rest of my family!" Lilly nodded her agreement, putting a smile on Miley's bright face.

Lilly grabbed her backpack as she and Miley walked to the back door. Miley snatched up a Pop-Tart that her father had left for her, hungrily attacking it as they walked out the door. Miley turned to lock the door as Lilly paused for a moment and looked lovingly at her and Miley's car. The slick black Tesla Roadster had been Miley's gift to Lilly for her birthday, and over the past month the girls had both gotten quite proficient at driving it. Lilly opened the door and sat down in the driver's seat as Miley did the same in the passenger seat. Lilly handed her backpack to Miley to stow in the floor at her feet. As Lilly typed in the code to turn on the car, its engine hummed to life. She shifted into reverse and backed out of the driveway. Once on the road, she eased the car into its first gear and not so gently hit the accelerator. Instantly the car leaped forward, much more quickly than would be expected. Lilly said, "Oops," and eased off the throttle slightly, settling for a safe forty-five miles per hour for the moment.

Miley grinned at Lilly's fun with the car. To be sure, it was totally thrilling to drive, and it was the perfect car for the two of them for driving around home. Being electric, its range was limited to just over two hundred miles per charge, but neither of them wanted to think about any longer drives for the time being. "We've got plenty of time, hon," Miley said. "I don't think the school is going anywhere, unfortunately."

Lilly kept it right on the speed limit as they approached Seaview High. Here she and Miley were much more frightened by other drivers than by anything else. Not everyone tried to be careful like them, and there had already been several crashes this year. As they turned into the school parking lot, they drove through the student section to their assigned parking place. Lilly eased the car into the parking space and turned off the ignition.

As Lilly and Miley got out of the roadster, they saw Amber and Ashley walking toward the school building. Since their suspension last month, Amber and Ashley had avoided Miley and Lilly, and the sentiment was mutual. The school superintendent had threatened to come down harshly on anyone who broke the cease fire between the two duos. Other than a few snotty comments, things had been rather quiet on that front.

"Bitch sighting at two o'clock," Lilly said quietly, shifting to walk a bit closer to Miley.

"See 'em," Miley replied without looking directly at them. "Might as well go in the other door," she said. When Lilly nodded her head, they turned slightly to enter through a different door. As they reached the entrance to the school, they threaded their way through the crowd clogging the hall to their lockers. As they pulled out the books and notebooks they needed for first period, Oliver slid against the lockers next to them.

"S'up ladies?" he said, using his smoothest voice.

"Morning Oliver!" Lilly said, hugging him. "Are you and Lindsey coming over to watch movies tonight?" she asked happily. Oliver had been a great friend to Lilly and Miley for years, but lately he had been spending quite a bit of time with his new girlfriend, Lindsey Hall.

Miley closed the locker and said, "Morning Oliver!" as she and Lilly waited on his answer.

"Yeah, we're coming over, at least for a little bit. _We_ still have to go to school tomorrow, unlike some lucky people I know," he said.

Miley and Lilly grinned at each other. "Yeah, we're going to be freezing our butts off in New York while you're down here in the sun tomorrow," Miley said.

Oliver smiled and said, "Well, at least there are some advantages to sticking around here." He turned to Lilly and said, "You nervous about this weekend, Lilly?"

Lilly's smile waned slightly as she said, "Just a bit, yeah." She looked at Miley and said, "I know you're going to be with me, Miley, but the last thing I want is to cause any trouble between you and your family."

Miley put her arm around Lilly and said, "Sweetheart, you won't cause any trouble at all. If someone does take offense to me having found the love of my life, then I'll deal with whoever it is, 'cause they'll be out of line and it'll be my job to put 'em back in it!"

Lilly smiled and leaned into the hug. "Thanks, Miles. But I'm still going to be nervous until I know everyone is going to be okay with us. I don't want to have to hide anything or to tiptoe around anyone while we're there. They're going to be my family too one day, and I want us to be open with them just like we have been with our parents and brothers." The three of them walked to first period together, with Miley releasing Lilly from her hug as they approached the door.

School went surprisingly quickly, as most classes were just housekeeping with students turning books back in, getting grades, and reading or talking quietly. Miley and Lilly were exempt from their semester tests due to their excellent grades and good attendance. While they had missed a few days, it was well inside the seven days allowed to students with an overall A average, and this semester Miley and Lilly were in that exclusive group at Seaview.When the final bell rang, cheers rang out throughout the school.

With smiles plastered on their faces, Miley and Lilly filed out of the school building alongside the hundreds of other students at Seaview pouring out of the school building. As they reached their car, Miley took the driver's seat this time, as she would be taking the car back to her house to charge it. The solar charging station still wouldn't be installed at the Truscotts' house for another two weeks, so Miley would take the roadster to the Stewarts' house when it needed to be charged.

Miley stole a glance at Lilly as she drove her lover to her parents' house. "What do you want to watch tonight, hon?" she asked Lilly.

Lilly turned to look at Miley as she smiled and said, "Oliver's turn tonight, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Miley said. "Who knows what he'll bring, then," she said, laughing.

Lilly grimaced as she remembered some of the previous movies Oliver had brought to movie night. "Maybe he'll pick something we like this time. I mean, statistically speaking, he _has_ to pick one we like sometime, right?"

Miley looked a bit uncertain at Lilly's logic. "I hope," she said.

As Miley pulled into the driveway, Lilly leaned over and kissed Miley. "See you in a bit, lover," Lilly said sensually.

Miley found herself licking her tingling lips as Lilly pulled away, her mouth still seeking the intimate contact with her girlfriend. "Can't wait, hon," Miley said breathlessly, her eyes half closed.

Lilly smiled as she walked to the house door, waving as she went inside. Once she was safely inside, Miley turned around and drove to her house. As she pulled into the carport, she plugged the car into the charging station and locked the door. Once the car was taken care of, she went inside and began straightening up.

After three hours, Jackson arrived with his girlfriend Kaela Davis accompanying him. Right on their heels were Oliver and his girlfriend Lindsey. Somehow Lindsey had managed to put up with Oliver's inherent goofiness long enough to find the equally inherent goodness inside him, and she apparently liked what she found. Miley had already changed into her pajamas, her special sheer silk ones that Lilly had gotten her last week. They were a soft blue, "the color of the most beautiful eyes in the world," according to Lilly. Miley was definitely wearing her underwear underneath, because the sheer silk didn't leave much to the imagination when she moved certain ways, much to Lilly's delight the first time Miley wore them.

Oliver's choice for a movie--"Transformers"--wasn't so bad, but it was kind of a guy movie. Still, Miley figured Lilly would like it for the action. She smiled. Sometimes Lilly still acted like one of the guys that she grew up riding skateboards with. But that was part of who she was, and Miley loved her for it. The ringing of the house phone shook Miley out of her contemplation as everyone was settling down in the living room. Miley reached over and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"_Lilly landing in ten!"_ Lilly's voice came through the phone clearly, immediately putting a smile on Miley's face but then making it go away immediately as she hung up the phone.

Miley ran toward the door, shooing everyone out of the way. "Move! Move! Lilly landing in six, maybe five now!"

"What the heck is a Lilly landing?" asked Lindsey, totally confused. This was her first time over at Miley's house, and she was still a bit unsure as to what movie night was all about. This was definitely not what she had expected as she watched Miley scramble to the door. She saw Jackson pull Kaela over in front of the couch as Miley flung the door open, just in time for Lilly to shoot through the door on her skateboard, performing a simple kickflip as she landed and skidded to a stop.

Lilly turned to Miley as she unbuckled her helmet. "Miss me, hon?" she asked, grinning. "Hey everyone," she said, turning to regard their guests as Miley hugged her from behind.

"More like you missed me. Just barely," Miley said, giving Lilly a chastising look. But the look didn't last that long, as she really had missed Lilly. "Glad you're back home safely," she said, giving Lilly a kiss and taking her helmet and skateboard to the closet.

Lilly said, "Changing into pajamas!" as she ran upstairs, charging up the stairs as if food was waiting on her at the top of them.

Kaela was the first to laugh. "Oh Miley, does she do that all the time?" she asked.

Miley said, "Yeah, it's kind of her way of not slowing down 'til she gets here." Secretly, Miley loved it, because she had realized that Lilly wanted to get back to her without the slightest delay, and stopping to knock on the door would add precious seconds to their time apart. She went back over to the kitchen, where she scooped up a small bowl of popcorn for her and Lilly to share. She also grabbed a glass of Gatorade for the two of them to drink, then she made her way back over to the living room.

Kaela had firmly deposited herself in the large chair, with Jackson on the floor leaning back against her long legs. Oliver had found two beanbags, and with them he had made a large seat for Lindsey and himself. Left alone was the couch, because Jackson had already warned everyone they didn't want to battle Miley and Lilly over it. As Miley set the bowl of popcorn and drink down on the coffee table, she arranged the pillows then settled back against them, unfurling the light blanket she and Lilly would cover up with.

"Okay, back!" Lilly shouted as she thundered down the stairs. She slowed down just slightly as she jogged across the floor and swung herself over the couch, landing at Miley's feet. "Miss me again?" she asked Miley with a grin.

"Thoroughly," Miley said, smiling at the young woman she cared for more than anything. "But I've got you now." She pulled Lilly back against her, wrapping her long legs around Lilly's waist and then entwining them with Lilly's own legs, left bare by the shorts of her soft blue pajamas, identical to Miley's.

As Lilly pulled the light blanket over her and Miley, Kaela incredulously asked, "Do you two have matching pajamas?"

Lilly nodded her head. "Yeah, aren't they cute?" she said, reaching for the popcorn. "Fire it up, Oken!" she said as she grabbed the bowl, transferring it to her chest where both she and Miley could reach it.

After the movie was over, Miley had to admit it was quite a bit better than she had expected. Even though Megan Fox's character had started out as eye candy, there was quite a bit of depth and development to her character. Plus, Miley and Lilly had both liked the fact that she showed quite a bit of bravery and initiative as well. And she swung a mean reciprocating saw, according to Lilly. Miley wasn't quite sure what a reciprocating saw actually was, but she took her fiancée's word for it.

Lilly yawned loudly, and that seemed to be the signal that the night was ending. Lindsey and Oliver got up first, stretching and then hugging. Jackson helped Kaela up, likewise claiming a hug from his girlfriend. Miley and Lilly awkwardly struggled to stand up, keeping the blanket wrapped around them.

"You two cold or something?" Jackson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Jackson, we're cold," said Miley with a chill in her voice. _Don't do it, Jackson, just let it go_, she thought, trying to beam her thoughts over to him. Apparently it worked, because he let it go without further questions.

Kaela said, "Jackson, can we drive Oliver and Lindsey home on the way to my house?"

Jackson nodded. "Sure! That okay with you two?" he asked, looking over at Lindsey and Oliver.

Oliver said, "That'd be awesome! Thanks!" He waved at Miley and Lilly and said, "Good night you two! Have fun over break!" Earlier Miley had asked Oliver to check on their house for them while they were gone, and he had reassured her that he'd be happy to do it.

"Good night everyone!" Miley said, as Lilly leaned back against her lover, eyes heavy with sleepiness. "Ready for bed, sweetheart?" Miley asked softly, getting a nod in response. Slowly, they turned and made their way up the stairs, being careful not to trip on the blanket they were wrapped up in.

The night was warm but breezy, with the ever present roar of the ocean sounding clearly as they walked to Jackson's car. As Jackson opened the door for Kaela, Oliver did the same for Lindsey, then he followed her into the back seat. Jackson closed Kaela's door then walked around to the driver's side, sitting down as he started the car. "Boy, Lilly was really conked out by the end of the movie, huh?" he said lightly. "I mean, she normally talks quite a bit more while watching a movie at home."

"Mmmm," Kaela said noncommittally. She turned to look at Oliver. "Nice job on the movie, Oliver. I liked it more than I thought I would."

"Thanks... I guess," said Oliver. He held a straight face for a few seconds, then he started laughing as Lindsey tickled him.

"Learn how to take a compliment, dummy!" she said, laughing as she worked his ribs over. Soon they were at Lindsey's house, where Jackson pulled up to the door as they dropped her off. They watched while Oliver walked her to the door. Once he had hugged her good night and she was safely inside, he returned to the car and they pulled away.

Once they were back on the road, Jackson said, "I was kinda surprised that Miles was so quiet during the fight at the end of the movie. Usually she jumps and yells during big action scenes like that."

Kaela gave him a stern look as she said, "Jackson, we can talk about it after we drop Oliver off." The tone of her voice clearly communicated that he didn't want to argue this particular point.

"Uh, okay, Kaela," Jackson said, turning onto the road Oliver lived on. As they pulled up to his house, Oliver hopped out of the car.

"Thanks for driving Linds and me home, Jackson. Night, Kaela," Oliver said as he turned, walking to his house. Once he was also safely inside, Jackson pulled away.

"So what was that look about?" he asked Kaela, dumbfounded. "Was I not supposed to say anything about how weird my sister and future sister-in-law were acting during the movie?"

Kaela gave him a look that was equal parts smile and disbelief. "Are you really that clueless, Jackson?" she asked, softening her tone of voice to lighten the sting of her words.

"Clueless about what?" Jackson asked.

Kaela laughed once, a short but loud laugh. "You big dummy, Miley had her hand down Lilly's shorts the last twenty minutes of the movie!"

To his credit, Jackson corrected the swerve before he ran out of the road. "_WHAT?_" he yelled.

His expression made Kaela laugh harder. "Yeah, and judging from some of the movement around Lilly's right shoulder, I bet her hand was somewhere special too. She probably reached behind her back to get to Miley, I think." The grin on Kaela's face was warm, without a hint of malice. "Oh, come on, Jackson! You know they're doing it all the time, so why are you embarrassed now?"

"But... But..." he sputtered. "I don't want them fooling around when they're in the room with me!" He was turning red now, which Kaela thought was cute.

"You look cute when you're flustered. Have I ever told you that?" she said as they pulled into her driveway. As he put the car into park, Kaela slid over next to him and gave him a deep kiss. "I'm going to miss you this next week," she said as they pulled apart.

"Same here, Kae," Jackson whispered, fighting to recover his breath from the kiss. He looked into her green eyes, finding himself getting lost in them. Last week they had consummated their relationship for the first time, after long discussion about the pros and cons of doing so. They had used a condom even though Kaela was already on birth control pills, as they planned on taking no chances with their health or their relationship. Jackson found himself falling in love with Kaela more each time he was around her, for so many different qualities she possessed: beauty, humor, strength, compassion, intelligence, all were part of this young woman he had grown to love.

For her part, Kaela had likewise fallen hard for Jackson. From the first day they met at school, she had been taken with his personality. What others saw as immature, she saw as playful; instead of seeing him as classless, she saw him as honest. Jackson truly wasn't a bad young man; in fact, he was a very good young man, it just took a bit of looking to realize that. Kaela also adored his family. Miley had been wonderful to her when the two of them met, and she loved Lilly like a sister already, from their time on the soccer team together. Jackson's father had been very gracious to her, and Kaela thought he had done a fine job of raising his children after the sudden death of his wife several years ago.

Kaela was also proud that she could send Seaview's senior forward Jen Kittrell off to college with the district soccer championship she had always wanted. Seaview had been bounced out of the state tournament in the first round, but they had already achieved the goal they wanted, making the season a resounding success. Just as Kalea's mother had said, joining the soccer team would help her make new friends at Seaview. _ You have no idea, Mom_, Kaela thought, smiling as she considered how things had turned around for her personally over the last six months. "You should probably walk me in now," she said to Jackson. "Unless you like my mom watching us make out."

That comment got Jackson's attention. "What? Can you see her?" he said, looking out the windshield.

Kaela laughed. "No, silly, and I doubt she can see us with the headlights still on. But you never know." She opened the car door as Jackson turned off the engine and climbed out, meeting her at the front of the car. She took his hand as they walked to the door. As they reached the house door, the light clicked on, illuminating the two of them. "Thanks Mom," Kaela said through gritted teeth as her mother opened the door.

"You're welcome, dear," Ms. Davis said. "Hi Jackson," she said with a soft smile.

"Evenin' Ms. Davis," Jackson said in reply. He turned back to Kaela. "Night Kae," he said, giving her a quick kiss.

"Night, Jackson," Kaela answered, hugging him. "You better miss me next week," she said, squeezing him tightly.

"I will," he said. "Count on it." He stood there until she had gone inside and the door had closed, the sound of the lock turning distinct. He turned and walked back to the car, thinking about how much he was falling for Kaela.

Back at the house, Miley and Lilly had finished what Miley's roaming hands had started downstairs. A hot shower made for the perfect background noise as the two young women softly made love on their bed, saying volumes without a single spoken word. Once they were both satisfied, they played Rock-Paper-Scissors to see who had to get up and turn off the shower. Miley went with rock, while Lilly wisely chose paper. When Miley got up to turn off the shower, Lilly quickly sprawled out across the entire bed. When Miley padded back into their bedroom, she said, "Oh no, bed hog! Time for you to make room for your woman!" She pounced on Lilly, tickling her through the light covers and getting a very gratifying shriek for her efforts.

"Okay, okay, I'll move!" Lilly said, still laughing as Miley's hands continued to work. Once Lilly had indeed moved, Miley slid into the bed beside Lilly. "Night Miles. Love you," Lilly said.

"Love you too, hon," Miley answered. "See you in the morning." She then closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep, holding Lilly tightly as she lay against Lilly's left side, her head resting softly on Lilly's left shoulder.

The next morning came quickly. There was just enough time to get up and bathe before Robbie Ray was telling everyone that breakfast was ready. After a fast breakfast, the crew was on the road, making for the parking garage first. Jackson didn't exactly have a secret identity, but he had been linked to Hannah Montana in the past when the tabloids had mistakenly assumed he was dating Hannah. Robbie Ray felt it would be best if Jackson wore a disguise of some sort, so he had gotten Jackson a fake mustache and a jet black wig. Jackson had protested loudly, but Robbie Ray had been resolute. In the end, they compromised with Jackson only having to wear the wig when absolutely necessary, but the fake mustache had to stay while in disguise.

After changing into their alter egos, the crew set off for the airport in Hannah's limousine. After a short drive, they were at the private hangar. Once again, they met Roxy outside the airplane. "Morning young ladies!" Roxy said to Miley and Lilly, giving them both a hug as she saw them. She looked at Jackson's disguise with a raised eyebrow. "And good morning to you," she said, eying Jackson's suit, black hair, and fake mustache When Robbie Ray walked over, Roxy said, "Interesting outfit your assistant is wearing," a knowing look in her eyes.

Robbie Ray shook his head. "Not sure what I'm gonna do with that boy," he said as they unloaded the luggage. The airplane crew helped them stow the bags away on the plane, and soon enough they were in the air, heading to New York City.

After a little under five hours of flight and three hours lost to time zone changes, it was six o'clock by the time they arrived in New York City. Along the way, Miley and Lilly had gotten ready for tonight's event. Hannah was wearing a scarlet t-shirt with an abstract design, her black leather half jacket, thoroughly worn blue jeans and black boots. Lola was going with her brand new green wig, along with a bright red miniskirt dress fringed with white fake fur reminiscent of Santa Claus, candy cane red and white striped stockings, and knee-length black leather boots, rounded out by a belt made entirely of green and silver tinsel.

The Fashion Rocks event was beginning at eight, so Miley and Lilly insisted on being dropped off there with Roxy first, so they could have time to plan what they were going to do. Hannah's band had already arrived here yesterday, and the band and their equipment would be ready to go. Jackson and Robbie Ray would then take their bags to the Tipton Hotel, where they were staying tonight. Once the rooms were taken care of, Jackson would stay at the Tipton while Robbie Ray would come back to watch the performance.

As the limousine pulled up to the entrance of MTV's New York studios, the red carpet was already laid out and the photographers were jockeying with reporters for prime positions along the roped-off sides. As soon as the limo stopped, a security guard opened the right rear door. Lilly was the first one out, a radiant smile on her face as she waved to everyone. Flash bulbs fired in a cascade of light as she smiled, then she turned around to help Miley out of the limo. As Miley stood up, she and Lilly joined hands and started walking along the red carpet. Behind them, the guard closed the limo door, allowing it to pull away from the curb.

Lilly laughed at everyone shouting Hannah's and Lola's names, getting a grin from Miley in response. Of course, the happy gestures made the shouts and flashes double in intensity. Lilly had become accustomed to being in the spotlight now, with or without Hannah. Over the last month, she had made four appearances on _Sesame Street_, returned to host _Singing With the Stars_ once, and made a cameo appearance on _Heroes_ as a celebrity saved from an assassination attempt. Two weeks ago she had asked Robbie Ray to be Lola's agent as well as Hannah's, something he gladly accepted. With his and Miley's help, Lilly now felt more confident to let her own personality shine through, as she no longer had to agonize over every request or offer made to Lola.

Miley and Lilly stepped through the open door into the MTV building. Waiting on them was a young man who called to them. "Ms. Montana! Ms. Luftnagle! Over here, please!"

Lilly and Miley made a rapid turn, not breaking stride, and quickly crossed the lobby to him. "Hi," Miley and Lilly said together.

The young man grinned. "I'm such a big fan of both of you," he said. "And the lesbian thing is _totally_ hot!"

Miley felt Lilly stiffen up. _Uh oh_, she thought. However, she was surprised by Lilly's initial response.

"Thanks," Lilly said, a smile creeping across her face. "Hannah _is_ completely hot," she continued, "but she's all mine and I'm all hers, so don't look too hard. Got me?" Even though the smile remained on Lilly's face, Miley and the young man could both sense the fangs beneath, daring him to get flirty with either of them.

He stammered, "Y-y-yes, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am." Sweat was forming on his forehead as he contemplated whether or not he was going to get fired over his injudicious comment.

Lilly smiled again, and this time there was some warmth in it. "Good. Apology accepted. And not everyone is as comfortable with the 'lesbian thing' as we are, so you might want to be careful the next time you think about saying something like that, okay?"

He nodded his head, turning around to hide his flushing. "This way, please, so I can show you to the auditorium where we're setting up," he said as he set off toward a bank of elevators.

As they followed him, Miley whispered, "I thought you were going to chew him up," to Lilly.

Lilly laughed as she said, "Oh no. I kinda thought it was cute." She grinned as she added, "And you have to admit, we are pretty hot."

Miley looked Lilly up and down before she said, "Oh yeah. That little dress isn't going to stay on too long once we get back to the hotel. Count on it." She enjoyed seeing the redness creep across Lilly's face, even with her Lola makeup on. _Just how bad do I want to be?_ "But you can leave the stockings on if you want. They really turn me on." She smiled at Lilly's deepening blush. _Oh yeah, really bad._

"Ms. Montana! Ms. Luftnagle!" a voice called to them as they entered the auditorium. As Lilly fanned herself with her hand, she and Miley turned to see a woman in her early forties hurrying over to them. Her ash blonde hair was slightly disheveled, but she had a spark in her eyes that both Miley and Lilly immediately liked. "I'm Ingrid Hall, program director tonight. It is so good to meet you two!" She quickly and enthusiastically shook their hands. "We were worried you might not make it on time," she said reluctantly.

Lilly said, "Well, Hannah has never missed a show, and she's going to do a fantastic job tonight too!" She paused, then she said, "I'm very honored that you asked me to be a celebrity model, Ms. Hall."

Ingrid smiled warmly. "Lola, it is my pleasure. I'm glad I saw you before your career started taking off, or you might have been booked up tonight somewhere else!"

Miley and Lilly both laughed. Lilly put her arm around Miley and said, "No worries there. Where Hannah goes, I go with her."

Miley gave Lilly a kiss on her cheek and added, "Forever," getting a loving smile from Lilly in return.

Ingrid said, "I hate to interrupt a tender moment, but we need to get you two in position. Lola, I need to show you where our changing rooms are. Have you ever done any modeling at a fashion show before?"

Lilly shook her head. "No, but I've attended several with Hannah before. And I can change clothes really fast!"

Ingrid said, "That's good, because things will be moving really, really fast once they get going. We have four acts performing this year, and Hannah is our closer." At that, Lilly wrapped her right arm under Miley's left and gave her a happy squeeze. "Hannah, I'll show you to where your band is. We have two different stages, with the first and third acts on stage A and the second and you on B. That way we have a minimum of moving to do between acts." She pointed to a large triangular stage rising above an even larger triangular runway running around the stage. "The models will enter on this side," she said, pointing to the side on their right, "and walk clockwise along the entire runway, exiting on the other side. The artists will be on the stage, where they can move around and interact with the models and the crowd."

Lilly said, "What do you mean by 'interact'?"

"Well, some of our performers like to play to the crowd or dance with the models. But if you don't want to do any of that, just ignore them and keep walking like they're not there."

"Can do," Lilly said. "I don't dance with anyone but my sweetheart."

Miley said, "That reminds of the costume ball at our school. Remember that?"

Lilly got a faraway look on her face as she said, "Oh yeah. I was wearing my little cowgirl outfit..."

"...And I was wearing my red dress," Miley finished, sighing. "That was such a great feeling, you holding onto me as we danced."

Lilly stopped walking and looked at Miley. "I remember how cute you looked, dancing barefoot. I almost kissed you then, you know."

"Really?" said Miley, surprised. "I didn't realize that!"

Lilly nodded her head as she replied, "Yeah. Being that close to you was setting me on fire, and before much longer it would have ignited." She stopped talking, instead just looking into Miley's eyes with nothing but love. This time, there were no regrets, either spoken or withheld. Instead, Lilly had made peace with how things had finally worked out. Things happened the way they were meant to, and there should be no regrets that they had held their feelings back for so long. What mattered was that they _had_ finally acted on them, and now they would be together from now on.

Ingrid's voice tugged them from their reverie. "Lola, this is Andrew. He'll take you to the dressing area for the models tonight. Remember, we get started in thirty minutes, and it'll go really fast after that." A young man was standing beside Ingrid, his blond hair stylishly slicked up and back, seemingly flash frozen.

"Hi Lola, Hannah!" Andrew said, speaking rapidly with a higher pitch to his voice than either girl was expecting. "Lola, I adore your outfit! It's a shame you have to take it off to do the modeling, but oh well!" He turned, then immediately turned back around. "You ready, girl?" he asked.

"One second," Lilly said. She turned to Miley and threw her arms around her, kissing her intensely. "See you in a bit, lover," she whispered. "Knock 'em dead."

Miley smiled and kissed Lilly again. "Always, for you." She released Lilly, then she turned her girlfriend around and pushed her toward Andrew. "Now scoot! You've got to get ready!"

Lilly waved as she and Andrew took off toward the dressing area. "See you in a bit, Hannah!" she called over her shoulder.

Ingrid took in the longing, loving look that Miley was giving Lilly as she walked away. "She seems very sweet. That was one of the reasons why I asked her to model tonight."

Miley turned, suddenly more interested in what Ingrid had to say. "What were the other reasons?" she asked curiously.

Ingrid's grin reminded Miley of the Cheshire Cat from _Alice in Wonderland_. "Her approach to fashion also intrigued me. She has succeeded in making items that should clash horribly work together through her charisma and personality alone. And she's a rising star. It'll be good for both her and for me tonight. She gets some more exposure, while I get to take credit for helping spot her before she becomes a superstar."

Miley was impressed by Ingrid's straightforward approach and honesty. "Well, can't say I disagree with any of those," she said with a smile. "Thanks for asking us to be here."

Ingrid turned to walk again, and Miley followed. "No Hannah, thank you for agreeing to close out our show. I think when we announced you were going to be here, demand for tickets went off the scale. We wound up packing in another hundred people, and we still turned thousands away."

Miley looked sad for a moment. "I hate that everyone that wanted in couldn't get in," she said.

Ingrid spun around. "We're going to simulcast to our Megascreen outside when the show starts. That way those thousands and more can watch too," she said. As they arrived at a dressing room, she stopped. "This is yours and Lola's dressing room, Hannah, but I doubt she'll have much use for it for an hour or two. Your band's room is right down the hall, the next door on the left."

Miley smiled and said, "Thank you so much. I think you're going to have a fantastic show tonight."

Ingrid shook her hand. "I definitely hope so. Well, I need to start screaming at people, I suppose. Feel free to come watch the others. You have access to the VIP section at the apex of the triangular runway, so you can watch your girlfriend strut."

Miley liked the sound of that. "I think I might check that out. Thanks!" She waved, then went inside her dressing room. She only briefly looked around, then she stepped back outside and walked to her band's dressing room. Time to find out where their stage was and then get into position to watch Lola's modeling debut.

Meanwhile, Lilly and Andrew had arrived at the dressing area. Lilly was amazed at how many people were scurrying about in this large room, situated between Stages A and B. Several makeup and hair stations were spaced around the dressing area, and each one was in heavy use. _Well, one nice thing about Lola's hair,_ Lilly thought. _Nobody'll have to mess around with it_. Andrew led her over to one small vanity with a rolling clothes rack next to it, several dresses hanging from it. "This is your spot, Lola. We've already got you several outfits picked out, and Gina here will help you get in and out of them as quickly as possible." A young woman who didn't look much older than Lilly waved shyly. Without missing a beat, Andrew continued, "As soon as you're ready to walk after changing, you go line up at whichever door we're using, depending on the stage, then you go strut your cute ass when it's your turn!"

Lilly couldn't help but giggle at his choice of words. "Thanks, Andrew," she said. She knew he meant it only as a compliment, so she took no offense to what he said. Quickly, she gave him a hug. "And thanks for helping fill me in. This is my first modeling performance."

He grinned as he lightly patted her back. "Girl, you are gonna look so good that your woman is gonna have trouble keeping her hands off you out there!" he said laughingly, getting a laugh from both Lilly and Gina as well. "Okay, I have to scoot," he said, waving as he walked off.

Lilly looked at Gina and said, "Hi Gina! I'm Lola."

Gina blushed slightly and said, "Hello," softly. She was shorter than Lilly, and her black hair and thick-framed glasses painted a picture completely different from how Lilly currently looked. She was a pretty girl, even though she was obviously dressed way down tonight with a long t-shirt and worn-out jeans. As she saw Lilly looking at her closely, she said, "You know, I asked to work with you tonight."

Lilly turned back to Gina from where she had been looking at the dresses, which had all been numbered. "Why?" she asked, quite curious.

Gina smiled and said, "Because my little sister loves you on _Sesame Street_."

Lilly grinned a wide grin and said, "How would you like some autographed stuff from Hannah and me for you two?"

Gina's eyes got big as she said, "Wow, seriously?"

Lilly nodded. "She's not here tonight, is she?"

Gina shook her head. "No, it's going to end too late for her to stay up. She's only five."

Lilly thought, then she had an idea. "Do you think you could give me a phone number where I can contact you tomorrow morning? I might be able to arrange a chance for us to meet before I fly out of New York."

Gina looked like she was going to pass out, judging from how pale she suddenly had become. "Oh, Ms. Luftnagle, that would be unbelievable! She'd be thrilled, I swear!"

Lilly said to Gina, "Make sure you get me your cell phone number before either of us leaves tonight, okay?" Gina nodded vigorously. Lilly walked over to the curtain separating the dressing area from the runway, sneaking a peek outside. When she saw the crowd, already quite large and growing louder by the minute, she was impressed. She turned and went back over to her vanity. "Let's get started," she said cheerfully, taking the first dress off the hanger.

As Miley made her way down the corridor to the VIP area beneath the runway, she found herself thrilled at Lilly's opportunity tonight. Her fiancée was one of the most beautiful women Miley had ever seen, and even when placed in the middle of a pack of supermodels, Lilly's beauty was unmatched in her eyes. Miley paused at the entrance to the VIP area. It was blocked off by a thick beaded curtain, with security guards lining the sides of the VIP area to prevent excited fans from joining the VIPs. As the first band walked onto the stage, the cheers of the crowd intensified. Miley peered out, trying to see who the opening act was. However, when the music started, she no longer had to try to see, because she recognized the song. "Great," she muttered. "I hate 'If Cupid Had a Heart'," she said as she saw Mikayla step onto the stage.

As her one-time musical nemesis started singing her song, Miley walked through the beads, hurrying up to the side of the runway. As she reached the runway, a few models had already passed by, but she didn't see Lilly among them. Just then, she saw her lover step around the corner, wearing a gauzy bright orange sundress that faded to yellow at the bottom of its short skirt, paired with brilliant orange pumps. Lilly initially looked slightly nervous, but she immediately spotted Miley and her nervousness visibly dissipated. As she stepped off, she walked briskly down the runway, swinging her hips slightly to accentuate the natural bounce in her walk. Miley had an excellent angle for looking at Lilly's legs, and watching the muscles flex and extend beneath her girlfriend's lightly tanned skin was incredibly erotic. She found her mouth going dry as Lilly approached her, a smile on her face. Lilly mouthed "Love you," as she drew close to Miley, to which Miley blew her a kiss and yelled, "I love you, Lola!" As Lilly reached the apex of the triangle, she paused and swiftly turned around, holding her pose for a second or two, then walking away down the other side of the triangular runway.

As Lilly walked away, Miley noticed she had stopped breathing, and now she needed to start again. Gasping in a deep breath, she willed her heart to stop racing. _My gosh, that was some effect she had on me_, she thought. Miley smiled, happy that Lilly excited her so much. She knew it wasn't just physical attraction; it went much, much deeper than that. But sometimes pure physical attraction could certainly raise its head and strike, like just then. Miley found herself waiting eagerly for Lola to change and get back out on the runway.

As Lilly walked back into the dressing area, she hurried to her little section, trying to ignore all the cacophony of shouting voices, blaring music and clacking of high heels on the floor. Gina had been waiting on her at the curtain, and she scurried back right behind Lilly, immediately helping her lift the dress over her head then tossing it into the box beside the vanity. "You're doing great, Lola," Gina said eagerly.

Lilly took the second dress off its hangar, stepping into it and then pulling it up so Gina could start buttoning the back closed. "Having Hannah out there helps," Lilly said. "Just looking into her eyes makes me feel more calm and more confident. Particularly with that Mikayla tramp out there singing."

Gina snickered at Lilly's opinion of Mikayla. "I take it you don't like Mikayla?" she asked Lilly.

Lilly turned her head slightly and said, "Are you kidding? That little witch was very ugly to my woman this summer, and I don't appreciate that." She paused, thinking before she said, "But I guess the fact that her career has pretty much stagnated since Hannah demolished her in that sing-off should comfort me some." She smiled a thin smile. "But heaven help that little tramp if she says anything to Hannah tonight. Hannah's manager got pretty angry the last time, but she's not dealing with Hannah's manager tonight. She'll be dealing with _me_."

When Miley saw Lilly reappear on the stage, she saw Lilly appeared to having a very good time. Lilly waved to her as she approached, then she pointed to Mikayla and made a gagging motion with her index finger, drawing a deep laugh from Miley. Lilly grinned at the effect of her gesture, then she blew Miley a kiss as she went by, getting one in return from her lover. As Lilly walked away again, Miley took a moment to listen to Mikayla. Her voice wasn't too bad, but someone had messed up her sound settings, making her voice sound thin and tinny. Or at least more thin and tinny than usual. Part of her did feel bad that the young singer's career had stalled, but it was only a very small part now. Mikayla's immature behavior a few months back had permanently turned Miley off on her.

After Mikayla finished her second song, the crowd rushed over to Stage B, fighting for position at the runway. Miley returned to the backstage area and walked around to the VIP area for Stage B, once again finding a spot right against the runway as the second band started. This band was a techno outfit, one Miley didn't recognize. Techno wasn't exactly her thing, but the band played solid, driving beats, and the models seemed to walk a bit more briskly to the music, Lilly included.

After two songs from that band, the crowd once again switched to Stage A. Miley, however, stayed at Stage B. As soon as the techno band's equipment was moved off the stage, Hannah's band began setting up. Miley double-checked all her microphones, the stage, and how her performing area interfaced with the lighted runway. She also took note of all the lights and fixtures, so she wouldn't accidentally trip over any of them. This was a very different stage and layout than she was used to, but it wasn't that bad. Soon, Miley heard the second band finishing their third song, and she got into position along with her band. _Time to rock_, Miley thought, a smile on her face.

The crowd began streaming into the area around the runway, with cheers going up as everyone saw who was closing the show out. Hannah definitely drew the loudest cheers that had been heard all night, something that put a huge smile on Miley's face. _Sometimes life is so good_, she thought, _and I am so lucky to have been blessed with what I have_. She said a quick prayer for both herself and for Lilly, then she signaled the band to start the first song.

As the music for "Life's What You Make It" cut loose, Miley started talking to the crowd. "Let's hear it, New York!" she yelled, getting a surge in cheering from the crowd. She glanced to the left and saw the first model on the runway for her song: Lola, wearing a multicolored satiny gown with essentially no back other than the loop around her neck. The fabric plunged dangerously low down Lilly's back, sending a surge of heat into Miley's stomach as she took in the sight of Lilly's gorgeous back. She smiled as she sang, slowly walking to the front of the stage, reaching the point of the triangle as Lilly did. As they met, Miley reached out and took Lilly's hand, twirling her as she continued to sing. Lilly's face lit up, and Miley was sure hers did too. She shadowed Lilly for part of the way back to the dressing area, then she peeled off to reclaim the center of the stage and finish her song. When it was done, the crowd was screaming for more, so Miley signaled the band to go immediately into the next song, "Bigger Than Us."

As the drums and bass started off the song, Miley danced over to her backup signers, smiling at Miriam, one of the contestants from _Singing With the Stars_ back when Hannah was the musical guest. Miriam smiled back, giving Miley a look of gratitude. As Miley started singing, she winked at Miriam, glad that the young signer had been able to make it. By the time Miley had reached the chorus the second time, Lilly was once again walking the runway. This time, Miley started down the opposite side, walking in the opposite direction of the models. She timed it so the song was ending when she and Lilly were about to meet, and as she held the last note, she reached out and took Lilly's hand, pulling her close for a quick kiss. That show of affection seemed to be very popular with the crowd, judging from all the shouts, whistles and cheers. As Miler released her girlfriend, she noticed Lilly's steps wobbled just slightly before she got them back under control. _Looks like I'm not the only one having trouble concentrating_, she thought happily. _Okay, time to finish this thing, because my woman and I have some things we have to do before much longer_.

Pausing just long enough to grab a quick drink of water, Miley said to the crowd, "Wow, you've been great tonight!" She waved to everyone, then she said, "This is our last song tonight. I hope you've all had a great time tonight, because I know I sure have! Remember all our sponsors and all our amazing designers and models tonight, plus the other bands who performed tonight." She gave the signal to start "Nobody's Perfect," and the band complied. Miley had wanted to end the show with a high energy song, and this one was just right. The backup singers stepped forward this time, dancing with Miley as she sang. The models seemed to enjoy the quicker tempo of this song, as evidenced by how they walked more briskly and more aggressively. Miley also got to see Lilly step out again, this time wearing a leopard-print evening gown that clung to her frame, showing every curve she possessed. As she spoke the words during the interlude, Miley noticed the models slowed down, then sped up again as she started singing again. As Lilly came by on her return, she stepped off the runway and came over to Miley, dancing with her and the backup signers. Miley couldn't help but grin at Lilly's improvised move, but Lilly was a good dancer, and she had certainly seen this dance many times before. She hit her steps perfectly, ending in a kneeling position right in front of Miley.

As the crowd roared, Miley helped Lilly up, then she said, "Good night, New York! You were fantastic! See you soon, and let's hear it for all our great models, designers, and bands tonight!" All the designers came out onto the runway, along with all the models. As everyone drunk in the cheers of the crowd, Miley and Lilly hugged tightly, each reveling in the close contact with each other more than the cheers.

As they returned backstage, Miriam made her way over to Miley while Lilly changed back to her original outfit. "Hannah!" Miriam yelled as she ran toward Miley. Reaching her goal, she stopped. "Hannah, thank you again for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Miley looked at her and smiled. "What do you mean, Miriam? I've got a place for you on my next tour, if you're interested. And if you ever move to California, you can be one of my regular backup singers and dancers."

Miriam turned quite pale as she softly said, "Are you kidding me?" Miley shook her head. Miriam whispered, "Wow. I mean, WOW!" She jumped up and down. "I'll ask my parents about moving tonight! I got your record company's phone number, and your manager gave me his phone number there too, so I can get in touch with you!" She stopped, quietening down. "But I don't think I could move and leave Tracy," she said.

Miley put her right hand on Miriam's left shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "Miriam, I wouldn't want you to leave your girlfriend. If her family wants to move with you, I'd love to have you in California with me, but otherwise, I'll see you on the minitour in a few months, okay?" She smiled at Miriam, whose feelings were anything but hidden.

Miriam smiled back. "Okay!" she said, perkily.

Just then, Lilly came back out. "Hi Miriam!" she said, hugging the dark-haired girl. "Where's Tracy?" she asked.

"She was in the crowd," Miriam said. "She flew out with my parents to see me perform." Unknown to Miriam was that Miley had paid for Miriam's family and girlfriend to fly out and back tonight. As Miley saw it, no one should miss seeing someone he or she loved perform.

"Well, good luck flying back, and I hope you had a great time," Lilly said, smiling. She turned to look at Miley, and the raw heat emanating from Lilly's eyes made Miley's knees nearly buckle.

Miley stammered, "Uh, Miriam, we really need to go, because we're really tired..."

"Yes, exhausted really..." Lilly added.

"And we really need to get in bed," Miley said. _ARGH! Why don't you just come right out and say it, Stewart!_

Lilly smiled slyly at Miley. "Yes, we really do," she said seductively, running her hand through Miley's long blonde Hannah hair. "My baby has some tension that needs to be defused before we can go to sleep tonight." She ended her sentence with nearly a purr in her voice, something that drove Miley wild.

Miley quickly gave Miriam a hug and said, "You did great, Miriam. Say hi to your family and Tracy for us!" She then turned and pretty much pulled Lilly away, hurrying down the hall.

Lilly grinned at Miley's aggressiveness. "In a hurry to get back to the hotel, Hannah?" she said playfully.

Miley stopped and turned to look at Lilly. "More like, in a hurry to get _you_ back to the hotel," she said, hunger evident in her voice.

Lilly leaned in and whispered in Miley's ear, so soft that no one else could ever hear, "Lilly likey," finishing with a hot lick on Miley's ear, nearly sending her lover into an orgasm right there.

Miley shivered at Lilly's bold action, then she started running down the hall, pulling Lilly with her. As she spotted Roxy, she made her way to their bodyguard, skidding to a stop beside her.

"Lands sakes!" Roxy said. "Where are you two going in such a hurry?"

"We have to get back to the hotel, Roxy!" Miley said hurriedly.

"Yeah, like really fast!" added Lilly. "It's an emergency!"

"Is anyone hurt?" said Roxy, concern in her voice.

The girls shook their heads. Miley said, "Not yet, at least. But we have to get back as fast as possible!"

Roxy took out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. A reply came across, but Miley and Lilly couldn't make it out. "Okay, let's go," Roxy said, leading them outside. As they exited, a limousine pulled up. Roxy took them to it, then opened the door. She handed her walkie-talkie to the security guard standing there, then she sat down in the limo beside the girls.

The presence of Roxy made Miley and Lilly control themselves, but they squirmed most of the way back to the hotel, making do with holding each other tightly and trying their best not to look directly at each other, afraid of what might happen if they were to make eye contact in this state of arousal. As they finally arrived at the Tipton New York, Miley didn't wait for the doorman to open the limo door, instead opening the door herself. Lilly ran after Miley as they sped into the hotel, Roxy hurrying to keep up. As they reached the elevator, Miley punched the Up button. Roxy caught up with them as the elevator doors opened, letting all three of them board the elevator together. Roxy hit the button for the fifteenth floor, then handed them two room keys as the doors closed. "Your room is 1501," she said. "I'm in 1502, across the hall." Miley and Lilly nodded vigorously as they took the keys. "You two must really need to go to the bathroom," Roxy said, taking in how fidgety the girls were.

Lilly and Miley looked at each other. "Something like that," Lilly said hurriedly. As the doors opened on the fifteenth floor, they ran down the hall at a full sprint, Lilly beating Miley to the door by several lengths. She slid the card into the lock, forcing the door open as the light turned green. "Good night Roxy!" Lilly said as she swung the door open.

"Yeah, night, Rox!" Miley said rushing into the room. As the door closed, the girls dropped their keys, then they bolted and chained the door before finally surrendering to the passion boiling inside them. As they peeled each other's clothes off, they found the bed by touch, backing into a few walls before reaching the bed. As Miley shoved Lilly down onto the bed, she tossed Hannah's wig onto the dresser, with Lilly sending Lola's wig across the room, landing on the table nearby. Smiling, Miley climbed on top of the young woman she loved. "I love you with all my heart and soul," she said as she looked down into Lilly's sparkling eyes.

"Oh Miley, I love you too, with everything I have, everything I ever will have," Lilly answered before she pulled Miley onto her, kissing her passionately. No further words were spoken, as the young lovers said everything else with their hands, lips, tongues and embraces, creating a symphony of love, passion and joy for quite some time. As they finally lay spent in each other's arms, they gazed into each other's eyes as they fell asleep. And in those matching eyes of blue, each young woman saw her future, a future full of love and happiness, as they drifted into sleep. Together.

**Author's Afterword:** Once again, the grammatical mistakes in some characters' comments are very deliberate, because that's how things would be phrased by those characters. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, because it sure did take some twists and turns as I was writing it, ending up quite far from how I had initially visualized it. Still, I really like how it ended up. As usual, I'll try to have the next update up within five days or so. See you soon!

-- Jo --


	12. Chapter 12: Brighter

**Author's Note:** Yay, time for another chapter! For this chapter, I do want to state up front that the community of Misty Hollow is my creation and that no such community actually exists. However, Misty Hollow is based on a very real part of Tennessee that I have spent a great deal of time in. I've changed a few things in addition to the name, but most of the details are very real. I realize I'm taking some liberties by stepping outside the established facts of the show, but writing Nashville is boring and hey, it's good for the story! I hope everyone enjoys this setting, because it offers lots more fun than NashVegas. And for those of you wanting some more action, drama and conflict, your patience is about to be rewarded. Soon. Very soon. For my standard disclaimers, please see Chapter 1.

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 12: Brighter

_There's a risk worth taking_

_A pain worth aching_

_On this hallow ground_

_--_Miley Cyrus, "Good and Broken"

A tickling sensation on the tip of her nose woke Miley from her sleep. Not bothering to open her eyes, she rubbed her nose, trying to brush away the offending lock of hair. However, as soon as she moved it, the lock of hair came right back, tickling her nose further. Finally Miley rubbed her nose furiously, which immediately led to a soft giggle from somewhere above her head. She opened her eyes to see the smiling face of her girlfriend Lilly leaning over her face, tickling Miley's nose with one of her long braids. "Good morning, Miles," Lilly said as she leaned down and kissed Miley on the exact spot she had been tickling seconds ago. "Sleep good?"

Miley smiled in response as she reached up and ran her right hand through Lilly's silky blonde hair. She gently gripped the back of Lilly's head and guided her lover down to meet her lips, where she extracted a warm, lingering kiss. As their lips moistly parted, Miley whispered, "I always sleep good when it's with you." She turned, trying to find the clock. "What time is it, hon?" she asked Lilly, her voice heavy with sleep.

"Eight-thirty," Lilly said. "So c'mon, you need to get in the shower and get ready, so we can get going!" She pulled the covers off Miley, exposing most of her nude body before Miley was able to clutch onto the sheet, hanging on fiercely. Lilly raised an eyebrow, then tugged harder. She was rewarded with Miley sliding nearly off the bed as she clung to the sheet.

"Ahhh!" Miley said, narrowly stopping before she fell off the bed. "Lilly, stop it!" she said, more anger in her voice than she had intended. She saw Lilly's smile fade slightly when Lilly realized that she had really upset Miley. Miley motioned for Lilly to come over to her, which she did.

As Lilly knelt down beside the bed, she put her head on the bed next to Miley's legs. "I'm sorry, Miley," she said quietly. "I was just playing, and I'm really excited to get to meet your family, and I was just wanting us to get going early this morning and--" Miley's fingers on her lips stopped the rush of words out of Lilly's mouth.

"No Lilly, I'm the one who's sorry," Miley said apologetically. "You were just playing, and I was being grouchy because I had just woke up. I'm really, really sorry sweetheart." Miley ran her left hand through Lilly's hair, being very careful to not hurt the woman she loved. "Can you forgive me for being such a bitch?" she asked, smiling as she hoped that Lilly would forgive her.

Lilly turned her head so she could look at Miley, and when Miley saw the tears brimming in Lilly's eyes it nearly broke her heart. As Miley sat up to hold Lilly, Lilly said, "Of course I forgive you, Miles," fighting to hold her tears back. "I love you. I could forgive you for anything, as long as we're together."

Miley gently lifted Lilly's head up and pulled her up to sit on the bed beside her. Lilly had on a bathrobe, which was more than Miley had on, but right now clothing was not the top priority for either girl. Miley softly said, "No tears, Lilly Bear," getting a smile from Lilly at the use of her pet name. Miley wiped the tears away from Lilly's eyes, then she leaned in and kissed her. The kiss started soft and warm, but each needed it to become more than that. The kiss deepened, as they held each other tightly, wanting nothing more than to rewind the last five minutes and start the morning over again. As the broke the kiss, Miley said, "I'm so sorry, Lilly Bear. You know I can get grouchy when someone wakes me really suddenly, but I should have held it in with you."

Lilly looked into Miley's blue eyes and saw unshed tears there as well. "I really was just playing, Miley. I should have remembered and woke you up more gently. Or at least not tried to pull you off the bed." A smile crept across Lilly's perfect pink lips.

"Forgiven?" Miley asked, looking into Lilly's warm blue eyes.

"Yes, forgiven," Lilly answered, looking back at Miley. "Forgive me?"

"Of course," Miley said. "Now, let's get ready so we can get going," she added with a smile.

Lilly shook her finger at Miley. "I've already taken my shower. You're the one who's running late," she said with a smirk. Lilly stretched out on the bed. "I might just lie back down," she said, stretching out.

Miley immediately jumped up and pulled the rest of the covers off the bed. "Oops," she said. "Look at that. No covers." She dropped the covers on the floor, getting a grin from Lilly.

"Meanie," Lilly said, not meaning it in the least. "But I still love you." That she definitely meant.

Miley smiled, then she leaned down and kissed Lilly quickly on the lips. "Sorry again. Now I'm going to get in the shower," she said, then she walked to the bathroom. As she entered the bathroom, she felt the humid warmth lingering where Lilly had taken her shower and then closed the door to trap the warmth inside. Miley knew she had done it to keep the room from being too cold for her. Miley tended to get cold easily in the morning before she got moving around, and Lilly had remembered that. _I really was too hard on her_, Miley thought as she stepped into the shower, the water still warm as soon as she turned it on.

Just then, the bathroom door opened. "Miley, if you're still beating yourself up about being grouchy this morning, stop it!" Lilly said. "Because if you are, I'll throw a glass of cold water on you."

Miley grinned. Sometimes the mental connection between the two of them was eerily accurate, just like then. "Okay, I'll stop," she called out loudly enough to be heard over the shower stream.

Suddenly Lilly's head poked through the curtain at the end of the shower. "You better," she said, then she pulled her head back just as quickly before Miley could flick water at her.

Miley smiled at Lilly's playful mood. _Glad I didn't upset her too much_, she thought. _And I'm glad we've gotten to where we can let little things like that go and just apologize and go on_. There was a time when neither girl did that very well, but both of them truly had matured quite a bit over the last six months. Staying together was the most important thing on either girl's mind, and they were willing to do whatever it took to make their relationship work.

The last thing Miley wanted to do was hurt Lilly, and she knew Lilly felt the same way. Plus, since they shared each other's pain when one of them was hurt, what Miley had done this morning had honestly hurt her as badly as it had Lilly once she realized what she had done. It was better to forgive and forget when it came to incidents like that rather than prolong the suffering by dragging it out.

Miley shook off any lingering guilt over her harsh words this morning and stuck her head under the shower spray. She grabbed her shampoo and quickly washed her hair, working the conditioner in next after rinsing her hair, then rinsing her thick mane of hair again to get the last of the conditioner out. As she scrubbed her body with the hotel soap, she realized the inside of her thighs were slightly sore. She smiled as she remembered exactly why her legs were so sore, and she was pretty sure that Lilly was equally sore this morning too. _We just couldn't get enough of each other last night, could we, Lilly Bear? Sorry if you're sore, but you tasted so good last night that I just couldn't stop._ She grinned as she thought about how Lilly had thrashed and moaned as she came several times the previous night, nearly bucking Miley off the bed once. And several times last night Lilly had returned the favor, driving Miley to heights of passion she never knew she could reach. _I hope I didn't wake anyone up last night_, Miley thought. _I know I was screaming Lilly's name pretty loudly at least twice through the night_.

As Miley turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, she was startled to see Lilly sitting on the lid of the commode. "What are you doing, Lilly?" Miley asked, surprised.

Lilly handed Miley a towel, her eyes never leaving Miley's body as she took in the rivulets of water running down Miley's smooth skin, tracing little paths along her body's curves and contours. "I was just sitting here, thinking about how much I love you. And how much I loved being with you last night." Now Lilly looked up, and Miley saw that the tears in her eyes earlier had been replaced with joy. Lilly pulled Miley's wet body closer to her, then she began softly kissing Miley's stomach as she wrapped her arms around Miley's waist.

"You're going to get wet," Miley said, smiling as she halfheartedly dried her upper body.

Lilly looked up at Miley and said, "And that's a bad thing?"

"You are a naughty girl, Lilly Truscott," Miley said with a grin. "And you know what happens to naughty girls."

Lilly stood, dropping her bathrobe as she did so. She pulled Miley tight against her, feeling the radiating warmth of Miley's body penetrating her own skin. She leaned in until their lips were nearly touching, then she said, "Yeah, I'm counting on it." Then she crossed those few millimeters separating their lips, sending both of them into a surge of passion that instantly washed away any lingering fatigue or soreness from last night, replacing them with only a need to touch, to feel, to please each other.

As both girls cooled down several intense minutes later, they snuggled next to each other on the bare bed, enjoying the warmth and comfort of just being in contact with each other. Miley was playing with Lilly's soft blonde hair, twirling a lock of it between her fingers. Lilly drew in a deep breath, then she slowly released it as a long sigh. Miley chewed her lip slightly, then she said, "What are you thinking about, Lil?"

Lilly turned to look at Miley, taking in her long legs, bare stomach, just-the-right-size breasts, thick chestnut brown hair, and finally the look of devotion on her beautiful face. _Oh Miley, do you have any idea just how beautiful you are?_ _Not just outside, but inside too_. "Well, right now I'm thinking that you are amazingly beautiful, both outside and inside," she said, gazing into Miley's ice blue eyes. _It's so neat how the tint of your blue eyes changes slightly depending on the lighting_.

"Aw, thank you. You know I feel the same way about you, Lilly. You have such a good heart, and you're a great athlete, and you're so--"

"But right before that I was thinking about how hot it is when you roll your hips when I'm behind you and--" A pillow that Miley produced from some unknown region firmly slammed down on Lilly's head, muffling the rest of her sentence.

Miley held the pillow for a few seconds, then she swiftly lifted it off Lilly's head, not releasing it just yet. "You finished saying dirty things, Lilly?" Miley asked, her face turning red rapidly.

Lilly smiled. "For now," she said cheerfully. "Can we get ready and go before long?" Suddenly she remembered something from last night's show. "Oh no! I forgot to get Gina's phone number!" Lilly jumped up and ran over to her red minidress from last night. "I told her that I'd call her this morning so she could bring her little sister over to meet us. I mean, meet Hannah and Lola." Lilly stopped as she stood up, red dress in hand. "Gina was my assistant that helped me during the fashion show last night. She said she asked to work with me because her little sister saw me on Sesame Street and liked me."

"That's so sweet!" Miley said, hopping up from the bed. "Lola has her first real groupie! Well, besides me, of course."

Lilly laughed, a sound that Miley dearly loved. "But we left before I could get her phone..." Lilly's voice trailed off as a slip of paper fluttered out of a tiny pocket on her dress. She bent down and picked it up. "Well, how about that," she said. "Gina must have slipped her number in my dress while I was on the runway last night." She looked at Miley. "Do you mind if we call her, so we can meet her sister? Just for a minute, please?"

Miley looked oddly at Lilly as she said, "Sweetheart, of course we can meet her. I'd love to meet one of Lola's fans."

Lilly hugged Miley and said, "Thank you," getting a ruffle of her hair and a smile in return. She picked her Lola phone up off the nightstand and dialed the number. She and Miley had learned to keep a second phone for their calls relating to Hannah and Lola, to minimize the risk of giving away their secret identities. After a few seconds, Lilly said, "Hi, is this Gina?" After a second or two, she then said, "Gina, this is Lola. Do you think you and your sister could come meet us at the Tipton hotel in a little bit?" Lilly looked at Miley and grinned as she listened. "Okay, would about thirty minutes work for you two, or do you need more time?" After a brief pause, she said, "Okay, that sounds great. We'll see you two then." She flipped the phone closed and said, "Okay, they'll be here in thirty minutes."

Miley smiled as she said, "Then we better get ready, hadn't we?"

In less than thirty minutes, Miley and Lilly were ready. Miley was wearing a soft, light blue fuzzy long-sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans, with her white boots today. Lilly had gone for her bright orange wig, a bright pink one-piece dress with a skirt that fell about midway down her thighs, Miley's white Hannah Montana leather jacket, black stockings, black knee-length leather boots and oversized shimmering hoop earrings. While they were getting ready, Lilly and Miley had called Robbie Ray to get things started with preparing the Hannah Jet for departure.

"Hey Miles, will you toss me that pink scarf of mine?" Lilly asked. As Miley carried the scarf to Lilly, Lilly said, "I want to be able to give her something of mine," she said bashfully. Miley grinned as she she turned around and finished packing the two suitcases they had used overnight. "Gina said she was a big fan of mine!" Lilly said, a bit louder.

"Yeah, right," said Miley, enjoying the fan love that Lilly was getting this time but determined to rib her girlfriend about the attention for a little bit. Miley turned and saw Lilly had an unreadable expression on her face. "Lilly," Miley said, "I think it's sweet that Gina's little sister thinks you're great. That kid can see the future." Miley walked over to Lilly and bent over, looking Lilly in the eyes as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Get used to it, hon, because I think one day Hannah's Fannahs will be joined by Lola's Rollas." Lilly giggled loudly at Miley's statement, getting Miley to laugh too.

"You're something else, Miles, you know that?" Lilly said, looking into her partner's blue eyes with complete love and seeing that same love reflected back at her.

Miley's answer was cut off by the ringing of the room phone. "Hello?" Miley said as she picked up the receiver. "Oh, okay! Thanks!" she said. "Oh, and can you send up someone with a baggage cart for our suitcases please? Tell them we'll be right down as soon as we get our bags loaded." She hung up the phone and turned to Lilly. "Gina and her sister are here," she said with a big smile.

In less than three minutes a knock was heard at their door. Lilly opened the door to reveal a young bellman with a rather large baggage cart. "Hi!" she said, moving out of the way so he could see the small pile of bags she and Miley had brought. The two of them were quite pleased they had trimmed things down to only six suitcases and one garment bag, and in no time the bags were loaded securely on the cart.

As they walked down the hall to the elevator, the bellman said, "Did you enjoy your stay at the Tipton, Ms. Montana?"

Miley smiled and said, "Yes, we had a great time!"

Lilly added, "We'll be back sometime, but we have someplace we need to be today." She looked at Miley and smiled as she took Miley's hand. "And I can barely wait!" she said, bouncing up and down with excitement.

Miley laughed at Lilly's eagerness to get going. She tapped the Down button for the elevator and was rewarded with the doors opening instantly. She and Lilly stepped into the elevator and moved to the side to make room for the baggage cart and the bellman. As they made the descent to the lobby, Miley looked at Lilly and quietly said, "I'm so glad you're going with me," to Lilly. "I wasn't looking forward to being away from you for Christmas."

Lilly smiled and said, "Sweetheart, you're never going to have to be away from me for Christmas, I promise you. Unless I drive you crazy with wrapping presents or decorating the house or something."

"Don't see that happening, Lola," Miley replied with a gentle smile as the elevator doors opened. The bellman pushed the baggage cart off first, then Miley and Lilly stepped out of the elevator. Miley saw Robbie Ray and Jackson standing at the Service Counter, so she said to the bellman, "Please take these bags to that handsome man over there at the counter," pointing at her dad, who waved at her and Lilly. "And thanks for getting our bags for us!"

He smiled and said, "My pleasure, Ms. Montana and Ms. Luftnagle," then he turned and pushed the cart away from the girls. As he moved off, Lilly spotted Gina and a little blonde-haired girl sitting in chairs on the other side of the lobby.

"There they are," Lilly said. "Wow, I'm kinda nervous."

Miley rubbed Lilly's back. "Just be yourself, hon. That's what your fans want to see. Usually." She smiled at Lilly and gently pushed her forward.

Once she was propelled forward, Lilly walked across the lobby. As she stepped onto the carpeted area where Gina and her sister were sitting, the little girl looked up and saw them. "Lola!" she cried, jumping up from her seat. "Gina, Gina, it's Lola!" she said, jumping up and down with glee.

"Hi there!" said Lilly as she knelt down and held her arms out to give the little girl a hug. Instantly she had Gina's sister leap into her arms, nearly knocking Lilly over with her enthusiasm. "Whoa, you're strong!" Lilly said, laughing as she hugged the girl. "What's your name?" Lilly asked her as she pulled back so she could see the girl's face.

"Emily," the girl said. She held up her hand with three fingers extended. "And I'm four!"

Lilly smiled, fighting back a laugh at the girl's honest mistake. "You're a big girl, aren't you Emily?" she asked, getting a very assertive nod in response.

"I saw you on Sesame Street," Emily said to Lilly. "Are you friends with Big Bird?"

Lilly nodded her head. "Yep, I sure am," she said confidently. "Maybe one day I can take you and your sister out there to meet Big Bird!"

Emily's green eyes lit up. "Oh, I would love to meet Big Bird!" she said.

Lilly looked at Gina, grinning at Emily's cute speech. "She's a great talker!"

Gina shook her head. "Oh, you don't have to tell me. She's been talking since she was nineteen months, and she talks _all_ the time," she said with a knowing smile.

Miley watched Lilly's interaction with Emily with a mixture of pride and anticipation. _She's going to be so good with our kids._ The thought caught Miley off guard, but there it was, still hanging in her mind's eye. _She IS going to be good with our kids, when we have them. But that'll come later, when we're older and mature enough to take care of a child. Now we're doing pretty darn good to take care of ourselves and each other. _She tried hard not to laugh at her thoughts. _But I can hardly wait._

A soft voice and a tug on her shirt sleeve made Miley turn around. "Oh, hi!" she said to the young girl standing behind her. She appeared to be seven or eight, with long, dark brown hair. "What's your name?" Miley said, bending down.

"My name is Hannah," the girl said, smiling. "And your name is Hannah too!" she said, proudly.

"You're right," Miley said, smiling. "Are you going to be a singer like me one day, Hannah?"

The girl nodded seriously. "Yes, and I'm going to be a lion trainer, too," she said, standing up straight. She held out a coloring book and a crayon and said, "May I have your autograph?"

Miley said, "You certainly may have my autograph, and you have very good manners!" She took the coloring book and the crayon, signing as best as she could with the green crayon. She looked at the girl's parents and asked, "Do you have a pen so I can sign a better autograph?" The girl's mother pulled a pen out of her purse and handed it to Miley. "Thanks," she said as she signed another autograph for the little girl. She fluffed the girl's fine hair and said, "Now you grow up and be a bigger singer than me one day, okay? And train some lions for me, too!"

The girl grinned at her and then hugged Miley's neck. Miley hugged the girl back with her right arm, trying not to blush. "Your hair smells good," little Hannah said.

"Thank you, so does yours," big Hannah replied.

"Hannah, what do you say?" the girl's mother said.

"Thank you," little Hannah, smiling.

"You're very welcome," Miley said, waving at her as she walked back over to her parents.

"Thank you," the girl's mother said to Miley, then they turned and walked off as the little girl looked intently at her coloring book. Miley could hear her say, "I like the name in crayon better," as they walked off.

Miley turned her attention back to Lilly, who was now sitting on the floor with Emily as Gina laughed, watching them play Pattycake. She walked over to where they were playing and sat down beside Gina. "Hi Gina, I'm Hannah," she said, shaking Gina's hand.

Gina beamed at Hannah as she said, "I have heard so many good things about you, Ms. Montana."

Miley smiled back at her and said, "You can call me Hannah. Thanks for helping Lola out last night."

"Oh, it was my pleasure, believe me! I never dreamed that you two would make the time to meet Emily. Wait, that came out wrong!"

Miley laughed as she said, "It's okay, I get what you meant." She looked at Lilly, who was listening to a joke Emily was telling her. "Lola has been really looking forward to this, too," she said to Gina. "Would you mind to give me your address, so we can send her a letter when we get back home in a week or two?"

Gina said, "Oh no, that would be great!" She dug through her purse, finally coming up with a pencil and paper. She wrote her address down and handed it to Miley, who slipped into the front pocket of her blue jeans.

Miley caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and saw her father waving at her and Lilly. "Gina, I think we're going to have to go catch our plane," Miley said, frowning. "I'm sorry, but we already have this flight planned. But I promise we'll send her a letter once we get back."

Gina stood as Miley did. "Ms. Montana, it's okay. I greatly appreciate you and Lola making this time and effort to make my little sister happy. I will _never_ forget this, I promise you."

Miley smiled and said, "Your sister is adorable. And I think she's made a new friend, too," she said, pointing at Lilly, who had stood and was holding Emily in her arms.

"Can we keep her?" Lilly said, smiling as Emily hugged her tightly.

"I'm afraid my mom might have a problem with that," Gina said with a smile.

"Aw, okay," Lilly said, gently handing Emily over to Gina. "Emily, I'll see you later, okay? I promise I'll get you out to meet Big Bird before long." She looked at Gina and said, "Did you give Hannah your address so we can write you two?"

Gina nodded and said, "Yes, she already asked for our address."

Lilly smiled at Miley and said, "Good Hannah!" Everyone laughed at that statement, making Lilly smile. She turned back to Emily and said, "Okay sweetie, Hannah and I have to go somewhere. Give me a hug goodbye?"

Emily obliged, hugging Lilly. She then held her arms out for Miley, who leaned in and gave Emily a hug too. Lilly smiled and bent down to Emily. "Emily, I want to give you something." She took off her pink scarf and handed it to the little girl, whose face lit up.

"Thank you, Lola!" Emily yelled as she hugged Lilly again. "Thank you for the beautiful scarf!"

"You are very welcome," Lilly said. She paused, wanting to give the little girl more. She looked up at Miley, who slightly nodded as she smiled at her. _Thanks, Miles_. "Emily, I've got something else I want to give you, okay?" The girl looked up at her. "It's a bit big for you right now, but I bet Gina could wear it if you let her borrow it until you grow into it," she said as she took off the white leather jacket. She draped it around Emily's shoulders, giggling as it nearly swallowed the little girl. Lilly leaned forward and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I'll send you a letter in a couple of weeks, okay?" Emily nodded, her smile huge and apparently permanent.

"Nice to meet you, Emily," Miley said, bending down to hug the little girl.

"Nice to meet you, Hannah Montana," Emily answered, smiling. "Bye bye Lola!" she said as she waved at the two of them, wearing the huge jacket as proudly as she could.

Lilly waved as she said, "Bye bye, Emily and Gina. We'll send you a letter in a two weeks, once we get back home." She turned to Miley and said, "Are we ready?"

Miley said, "Yeah. Dad's waiting on us." She reached out and took Lilly's hand. "Nice to meet you again," she said.

Lilly waved again and said, "Bye," then she and Miley walked across the lobby. Robbie Ray was waiting at the door, but neither Jackson nor any bags were in sight.

"Did you find a new fan, Lola?" Robbie Ray said, looking over at Gina and Emily, who were laughing and talking.

Lilly said, "She's so sweet!" as she and Miley walked up to him. "Wasn't she adorable?" she asked Miley.

Miley said, "Yeah. She was totally taken with Lola, Dad!" She turned to Lilly and said, "My woman has her own groupies now!"

Lilly laughed and said, "Are the bags in the car?" to Robbie Ray, who nodded. She then turned to Miley and said, "Then let's get to that airport! I'm wanting to get in the air, 'cause we've got someplace to be!" She led Miley out the door as they hurried through the cold New York air to the warm limousine waiting for them outside, hopping in the back with Roxy and Jackson, who were already waiting on them. Robbie Ray followed them into the back as he closed the door, then the limo pulled away from the Tipton New York.

The drive to airport went swiftly, and within the hour Miley and Lilly were airborne, heading for Miley's home state of Tennessee.

While airborne, Lilly and Miley changed out of their Lola and Hannah outfits. The wigs went into the suitcases for their alter egos, and the girls put on more subdued clothes. Miley had brought the new black Hannah Montana Crew caps customized with the titles of "Lola" and "Lola's Woman," and each of them tucked her hair under the caps. Miley had put on a black University of Tennessee sweatshirt over her pale yellow shirt and jeans; Lilly had elected for a gray t-shirt and brown corduroy pants, with her old faithful red jacket.

As the plane began its descent, Lilly asked, "So where are we landing, Miley? I mean, I know you used to live in Nashville, so I guess the airport's there, right?"

Miley turned to Lilly and said, "Actually, that's not where we're going, hon."

"Huh?" Lilly said, confused. "But you said we going to where you used to live!"

Miley nodded. "We are. We're going to where I grew up before we moved to Nashville. It's a little place called Misty Hollow. But get used to everyone calling it Misty Holler," she said with a smile.

Lilly said, "Oh, that's cool, Miley! I was thinking we were going to someplace outside Nashville, but we're really going somewhere further out in the country?"

Miley looked out the window as she said, "Oh yeah. To put it mildly."

Lilly knew something was bothering Miley. She scooted closer to her lover and gently put her arms around Miley's chest. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Miley turned to Lilly, and it was obvious that she was fighting back tears. She wiped at her eyes, then she said, "It's just been a long time since I've been back here. And while I'm wanting you to get to meet my family, there's a few people I'm pretty nervous about you meeting."

Lilly rubbed Miley's shoulders as she tried to get Miley to smile. "Miles, no matter what happens, I am always going to be right here beside you. If your family decides to kick me out, then I'll just go sleep in the barn or something." That succeeded in getting a chuckle out of Miley, making Lilly feel a bit of relief. "Didn't you say we were going to be staying at your Mamaw's house?" Miley nodded. "But last time she came to visit you in Malibu, didn't you say she lived in Nashville?"

Miley turned to look back out the window as the plane continued its descent. Objects on the ground were quickly becoming more detailed as the distance between them and the plane continued to shrink. "She did live in Nashville for a while, but she moved back to Misty Hollow not too long after we moved to Malibu. She had already shipped her stuff back to her home in the hollow when she flew out to see us. When she flew back home, she came back here to Knoxville, which is the closest airport to Misty Hollow."

Now the ground was quite close, and the speed at which they were traveling had turned the details so clear just seconds ago into a blur of gray and green. Suddenly the runway shot underneath the jet, and seconds later the tires touched down rather smoothly. As the jet's engines throttled back, Lilly found herself excited all over again. "Okay Miley, where are we going first?" she asked.

Miley gave Lilly a thin smile. "You'll see," was all she said as the plane coasted to a stop inside a private hangar. As it came to a stop, Miley and Lilly stood up and stepped out of the rear compartment of the plane. Robbie Ray was already stepping out of the plane with Jackson right behind as they descended the stairs, while Roxy was waiting for Miley and Lilly to reach the front of the plane. As the girls climbed down the steps, Lilly noticed that it wasn't quite as cold as it had been in New York.

"It feels pretty nice, Hannah," she said. "Not too cold."

"Not right now," Miley corrected. "The temperature can swing forty degrees in a few hours around here, hon." As they stepped onto the concrete floor of the hangar, Miley saw her father standing next to two silver Chrysler Sebrings, talking to man in an Enterprise car rental shirt. She took Lilly's hand and said, "Let's go see what Dad's doing."

As they approached Robbie Ray, he and the man shook hands, then he signed some papers on a clipboard before the young man handed him some keys. Robbie Ray turned and saw Miley and Lilly walking toward him. "Well, just who I was comin' to see," he said pleasantly. "Come over here, girls," he said as he stepped over to one of the cars. He took a set of keys and hit a button on the key fob, getting a flash of lights from the car they were next to. "This here car's gonna be yours while we're here. I want you girls to _be careful_ driving it, got me?" Miley and Lilly nodded their heads. He continued, "Now, normally they don't let teenage drivers drive rental cars, but they made an exception for Hannah and Lola, especially since you two can afford to replace it if you manage to lose it. But that's not gonna happen, is it?"

"No, Dad," Miley said.

"No sir," Lilly added.

"Okay, good," Robbie Ray said. "Now, let's get your suitcases loaded, because I know you've got someplace you're wanting to be," he said to Miley.

After a few minutes, the bags had been loaded in the cars and the girls had said their goodbyes to Roxy. She was flying back to California, since the return flight would be straight back to the private hangar in Malibu, where she'd meet them when they returned. Miley hugged Robbie Ray and Jackson and said, "See you at Mamaw's in a bit." As she released her father, Lilly stepped in and gave him a hug as well. "We promise to be really careful," she said to him quietly. Miley and Lilly repeated the hugs for Jackson, then the two of them walked over to their car, where Miley opened the passenger door for Lilly to climb in. Once Lilly was in, Miley closed the door and walked to the driver's side.

As she sat down and started the car, the engine thrummed to life pleasantly. Miley and Lilly both locked their seat belts, then Miley eased the car into gear as they pulled out of the private hangar. "Oh my gosh!" Lilly said as they left the hangar. "Miley! Those mountains are huge!" she said, marveling at the mountain range to the south of the airport.

Miley grinned as she said, "Yeah, that's where we're going."

Lilly spun around and said, "Are you serious?"

Miley nodded her head. "Yup," she said. "But first, there's someone I need you to meet."

They drove for about thirty minutes, going farther and farther out of the city. Miley explained to Lilly that the Knoxville airport wasn't really in Knoxville but was instead located in a smaller city several miles south of Knoxville. As they drove toward the mountains, Lilly found endless things to look at. Miley thought she looked almost like a young girl at Disney World, there was so much excitement in Lilly's voice as she peered out the windows of the car.

"Miley, I can't get over how many trees there are here! I mean, they're everywhere!" Lilly said.

Miley said, "Well, those trees give most everybody really bad allergies during the spring and fall, so there's a trade-off."

"I bet it's beautiful here in the summer," Lilly said wistfully. "Will you bring me back here sometime during the spring or summer?" She rested her hand on Miley's thigh, gently squeezing then releasing Miley's leg.

"Of course, honey," Miley said, smiling. They turned onto a smaller road than they had been traveling on. By now the mountains were looming over them, much, much larger than they had been. The houses were growing more spread out and the spaces between them were becoming larger and larger.

"My gosh Miley, how tall are those mountains?" Lilly said with awe in her voice.

Miley smiled as she stole a quick glance at the peaks ahead of them. "I'm not really sure, Lilly, but we'll be up there soon. We have to cross the little mountain in front to get into the valley."

As the car climbed up the mountain, Lilly stole glances back down whenever the trees parted enough to let her. The curves were tight, often doubling back on themselves as they worked their way up the mountain. After several minutes, they crested across the ridge of the mountain. As the road started to tilt back down, a railroad overpass loomed ahead, just wide enough to permit one car at a time to pass through it. "Wow," Lilly said. "This really is pretty far out in the country, isn't it?"

Miley laughed, and her laugh shot straight through into Lilly's stomach, triggering a jolt of love deep inside her. Funny how certain sounds could trigger such immediate surges of emotion. Now the car was going slightly downhill, and after a minute or two, they passed two houses on their right. They were the first houses Lilly had seen in several minutes, and strangely it made her feel a bit better to see signs of habitation.

Miley flicked on the turn signal and slowed, turning onto a smaller road to their right. "Where are we going, Miles?" Lilly asked again.

Not taking her eyes off the narrow road, Miley said, "I told you Lil, we're going to see someone really, really important. I promised her that I'd bring you to see her before anyone else, the next time I came back home."

Lilly's head started to swim slightly, from trying to follow all the twists and turns outside the car's window. "I'm going to close my eyes for just a minute, Miles. Starting to get a bit carsick," she said quietly.

Miley reached over and took Lilly's hand with her right hand. At this low speed, on roads she still knew well despite not seeing them in years, Miley felt comfortable enough taking one hand off the wheel. "We're almost there, hon. Just keep your eyes closed and breathe." She stole a glance at Lilly, feeling bad for her girlfriend's nausea. "These twisty roads can do that to you, but you'll get used to them really fast."

In what seemed like just a few seconds later, Lilly felt the car stop. Miley shifted the transmission into Park and turned off the engine. Lilly heard her get out of the car, then a few seconds later Lilly's door opened. Gentle but strong hands wrapped around Lilly's arms and guided her out of the car into a standing position. Lilly opened her eyes and found herself looked directly into Miley's soft blue eyes. "Hey," she said, a bit more confidently.

"Hey yourself," Miley replied, smiling. She leaned forward and kissed Lilly, and the kiss burned away the remnants of Lilly's carsickness.

"Wow, that worked great," Lilly said, a grin on her face as she took in the cool, crisp scent of the air She was struck by how silent it was here. Other the rustling of the light breeze through the leaves on the ground, there was no other background noise, which was unnerving to someone who had listened to the background roar of the ocean her entire life.

Miley kept holding Lilly's hands as they stood leaning against each other. "Good," she said. "I'll do it again anytime you want."

"Oh, how about... forever?" Lilly said.

Miley smiled. "Forever it is." She leaned back slightly. "Are you ready?" she asked.

Lilly nodded. "Yeah, as long as you're with me, I'm ready for anything," she said, but she was pretty sure as to where Miley had taken here. If she was right, this would be the moment Lilly had been both anticipating yet dreading for several days.

Miley stepped back, giving Lilly a view of where they were. As Lilly looked around the trees, mostly bare without their leaves but with a few evergreens scattered here and there, she was again struck by how far out they were from any sort of city. Miley put her arm around Lilly, and Lilly returned the favor, because she expected Miley would need the support. As they followed the small path of flat stones through the trees, Lilly saw that she had been correct. She felt Miley involuntarily slow her steps as the headstones became readily visible when the trees pulled back, giving them a clear view of the small cemetery.

Lilly squeezed Miley's hand more tightly. "I'm right here for you, Miles," she said softly. "You don't have to do this by yourself ever again."

Miley turned to look at Lilly, tears evident in her eyes. "Thank you," she said with heartbreaking sincerity. She fiercely hugged Lilly, holding her tightly. "Thank you for being here for me," she said again.

Lilly hugged Miley tightly in return, rubbing Miley's back. "Let's go see your mom, Miley. You know I'm going to start crying too, so you're going to have to help me find where she is."

Miley leaned back a bit, so she could look at Lilly's gorgeous face. "I can find where she is in the dark," she said. "I have several times."

That simple admission made Lilly's heart nearly break out of sympathy for the young woman whom she loved with all her being. "You don't have to any more," she said, feeling the tears start. As Miley started walking through the headstones, Lilly stayed right with her, their hands never separating. After a minute, the stones thinned out slightly, and Miley stopped at a solitary headstone, surrounded by several empty spaces. Lilly looked down at the light gray stone, still polished to a high sheen.

_Brooke Green Stewart_

_2-5-19643-25-2004_

_Loved Always, Never Forgotten_

Some flowers rested against the headstone. They looked very recent, making Lilly briefly wonder who had left them. Suddenly Miley sagged against Lilly, crying much harder. Lilly wrapped her other arm around Miley, supporting her and holding her tightly. As Miley cried, Lilly let herself cry as well as she continued to look at the gravestone. As words came to her mind, Lilly spoke them around sobs.

"Mrs. Stewart, I've already told you once in a dream, but I'm telling you again now, I swear I will always take care of your daughter. I love her more than anything, and I promise you I will always be good to her." She stopped to catch her breath. "Thank you so much for bringing such an amazing person into this world, because all my future happiness depends on her. Without her, I don't know where I'd be or what kind of person I'd be. But with her, I'm complete. I'm happy. And I will always be thankful to you for giving us the courage to admit our love for each other. You'll always be my--" Lilly stopped as the sobs intensified momentarily. After a few seconds, she swallowed and tried to continue. "You'll always be my second Mom, even if I never got to know you before--" Again, the tears interrupted her, but Lilly tried again. "Even if I never got to know you before the accident, because I've gotten to know you now, through Miley and through our dreams. I love you, Mrs. Stewart."

As Lilly finished her statement, Miley's sobs had lessened. She whispered, "That was beautiful, Lilly. I know Momma heard you, and I know she loves you."

Lilly held Miley tightly, her eyes closed trying to stop the flow of tears. "Thanks, Miles," she said, willing the tears to cease but not having much success. As she finally opened her eyes, Lilly saw something that nearly made her heart stop. Across the cemetery, standing amongst the tall pines on the far side of the clearing, Lilly saw a tall woman with long chestnut-brown hair blowing in the breeze. She was wearing a dark blue jacket and blue jeans, and she was looking directly at Lilly and Miley. Even at that distance, Lilly somehow knew that the woman was looking at them with eyes as blue as the ocean. As Lilly watched, the woman smiled, then she moved slightly and was simply gone. She never walked away, she was just there one second and gone the next.

Miley whirled around and looked off in the same direction Lilly had been looking. "Lilly, did you see..." Miley said, then she stopped. "It felt like someone was watching us," she said, looking around.

Lilly was speechless for several seconds. Miley looked at Lilly's nearly alabaster face and asked, "Are you okay, honey?"

Lilly looked at her lover and said, "I thought..." She stopped, then started again. "I thought I saw somebody watching us."

Miley shivered, then she said, "Well, I thought I smelled my mom's perfume. I hadn't smelled it in years, because I could never bring myself to wear it after she died, but it was like it was right there all of a sudden."

"Miley!" Lilly hissed, causing Miley to spin around.

The sun was starting to go down, and the shadows were lengthening among the trees. As Miley looked, she saw what looked like a woman with hair very much like hers, standing underneath a large sycamore tree, several yards back into the woods. It was difficult to make out any details through all the long shadows, but the shape and stance still registered in the depths of Miley's mind. "Mommy?" she said softly, taking a tentative step forward, pulling Lilly along with her.

They began slowly walking to the edge of the woods, but before they reached them a sudden wind gusted through the cemetery, stirring up a storm of leaves all around them and through the woods. After several seconds, the winds died down, and nothing was left in the spot Miley and Lilly were looking at. As one, they ran together to the exact spot where they had seen the mysterious woman.

They looked around, finding no sign that anyone had been there except for them, just now. As they turned around and around, Lilly could smell a faint scent of perfume, sweet and tingling, one of those odors that no words exist to describe accurately. "Miley, I smell something, a perfume of some kind," she said softly, never letting go of Miley's hand.

Miley answered, "It's her perfume. I know it. I haven't smelled it for years, but it's hers." She looked around. "She's here with us, Lilly, somehow." Miley's hand was trembling as she gripped Lilly's hand for dear life.

Lilly swallowed and loudly said, "Thank you again, Mrs. Stewart, for having such an amazing daughter. I'll always be good to her and take care of her, I swear to you." As if in response, the wind picked up again, stirring the leaves as the sun broke through a crack in the otherwise overcast sky, casting a soft light over the valley.

Miley turned to Lilly, tears now dried but her eyes twinkling with unshed moisture. "She said, 'Thank you, Lilly.' I heard her voice," Miley said, shivering as she fell against Lilly. Lilly held Miley tightly, trying to still both Miley's and her own shaking.

"You're welcome," Lilly whispered, closing her eyes as she held her partner tightly.

**Author's Afterword:** Okay, I _did_ cry writing this one. And proofreading it, too. The dates for the gravestone are arbitrary, but they felt right. Hope I'm not too far off, if official dates exist. Thanks for reading, and sorry again for updates taking five or six days instead of the three or four I'd prefer. However, the story chapters are wanting to be longer, and it takes a bit more time to write and proof them. Hope no one minds. See you as soon as I can get the next chapter completed!

-- Jo --


	13. Chapter 13: Heavenly

**Author's Note:** Thanks for everyone who had kind things to say about the last chapter; I'm certainly glad you enjoyed it. In regards to the bad review I just received for Chapter 3, I've sent that reader a note telling him/her that I appreciate that opinion and suggesting that he/she not read any more of my stories if they bother him/her that much. My intentions here are twofold: to tell the stories I see in the characters, and to provide enjoyment to those who do enjoy reading my stories. By all means, if my stories give you an unpleasant experience, please don't read them, because we're all here to have fun and enjoy ourselves. There are lots of excellent writers out there, so everyone can find something he or she likes. For all of you still with me, thanks again. This chapter is dedicated to all of you! For my standard disclaimers, please see Chapter 1.

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 13: Heavenly

_I wanna sleep beneath the peaceful skies_

_In my lover's bed_

_With the wide-open country in my eyes_

_And these romantic dreams in my head_

_--_Bruce Springsteen, "No Surrender"

As Miley and Lilly walked back to the silver Sebring, neither of them felt comfortable letting the other go. Both of them looked back over their shoulders more than once as they walked along the flat stones marking the path from the gravel parking area back to the cemetery in the woods, but nothing was there. As they reached the car, Lilly walked Miley to the passenger door and opened it for her.

"What are you doing, Lilly?" Miley asked. "You've never driven these roads."

Lilly pointed at the seat, and Miley obediently sat. "Maybe not, but after what we just saw, you're not in any shape to drive just yet," Lilly said.

Miley couldn't argue there. As Lilly closed the door and walked around the car, Miley stole a glance at her left hand. As she expected, it was trembling significantly. She shivered slightly as she thought back to the events inside the cemetery. Had they really seen her mother's ghost? Or was it just a shared hallucination, brought on by the fatigue from traveling and the emotions of the last few days? While she wasn't sure, Miley's heart told her that what she and Lilly had seen was no mere hallucination. Was there some connection between her mysterious dreams and what they had seen back there? Miley made a mental note to talk to Lilly later tonight about the dreams again.

Lilly sat down in the driver's seat and held out her right hand. "Keys, please," she said sweetly. Miley handed the keys over to Lilly and buckled her seat belt. Lilly started the car, then turned around as she backed up. She shifted the car back into Drive and slowly made her way down the narrow road. "Miles, you're going to have to tell me which roads to take, because I obviously have no clue where we're going."

Miley smiled and felt some of the shock slowly leave her body. _I'm sitting here with Lilly, and things are just fine_, she thought. "Okay. We're not far from my Mamaw's house, anyway." She thought for a moment, then she said, "Lilly, you seem okay with what happened back there." She wasn't sure if she was asking a question, making an observation, or just looking for Lilly's opinion.

Lilly kept her eyes on the road as she said, "Which way do I turn when I get back to the main road?"

"Right," Miley said, still looking at Lilly.

"Thanks," Lilly said. "Well, I'm really not that freaked out about back there. I told you before, Miley, I really _do_ believe your mom is watching out for us. So if I'm already believing in ghosts, is it that much crazier to believe that we saw one?"

"I guess not..." Miley thought as Lilly turned back onto the main road, easing down into the valley. "We're going to go about another mile, then you need to be looking for a red and white house off to the left, across a big field."

"Gotcha," Lilly said. The road was extremely curvy and it was getting quite late in the afternoon, so she kept it slow as she drove down the road. "And anyway Miley, what we saw back there was a good thing. I know that. Your mom said she'd be watching over us, and she is." Lilly took Miley's hand and squeezed it. "Thank you for sharing where she is with me. I know that was hard for you, to have someone with you at such a private place, and I'm honored that you let me be there with you."

Miley lifted Lilly's hand and kissed it. "You're welcome, Lil. You're the only person I've ever gone back there with since her burial. I wouldn't even let my dad go back to her grave with me. I figured that he and I both needed to talk to her in private. It wouldn't have been right for either of us to intrude on the other's time. But you don't ever intrude on me, sweetheart."

Lilly saw the hills pull away from the road slightly, then a large open field appeared to the left of the road. A small river ran parallel to the road, separating the field from the road, with a large split-rail fence between the river and the road as well. "Is that the house?" Lilly asked as she saw a large house ahead, several hundred yards off the road, nestled against the edge of the woods behind it. A small hill rose up behind the house, and Lilly could see several smaller buildings around the house, including a large wooden barn, another wooden building nearly as large as the barn, and two smaller buildings closer to the main house.

Miley smiled as she said, "Yeah, that's my Mamaw's. You're going to turn into her driveway right up here, where the bridge is."

Lilly saw just the checkered orange and white mailbox first, then the road tilted downward slightly to reveal the driveway's entrance. She slowed and then turned onto the small concrete bridge jutting across the river. While no more than thirty or forty yards long, the bridge was significantly higher than the field beyond it. As they left the bridge, the gravel driveway gently sloped down until they were following it through the field. The fence continued along the left side of the driveway, and now Lilly could see a few horses roaming around the large field, with the ground cover a mix of tan and light green as a result of the winter weather.

Lilly felt her pulse quickening as they approached the red and white farmhouse ahead. "Oh my gosh, Miley, what if they hate me?" she asked as she parked the car next to its silver twin; obviously Robbie Ray and Jackson had beaten them here. Lilly turned to look at Miley as she continued to edge toward panic. "What if they hate _us_? I mean, I can handle them not liking me, as long as we have each other, but I couldn't handle knowing I was responsible for your family--"

Miley's lips against Lilly's silenced her anxiety. As Lilly closed her eyes, falling into the sensation of Miley's love, she felt Miley's hands against her head, holding her tightly, fingers threaded through her hair. As Miley pulled back gently, Lilly could feel her heart racing still, but now for an entirely different reason. She opened her eyes, and she instantly grounded herself gazing into Miley's own gentle blue eyes. "Thank you," Lilly said, smiling. "Sorry about my little breakdown there."

"S'ok," Miley answered, smiling in return. "You do worry too much, though," she added, trying to get a laugh but falling slightly short. "Lilly, it's going to be okay. I'm pretty sure both my Mamaw and Aunt Dolly already know about us. And if some of my family does have a problem with us, then we deal with it together, remember?" She took Lilly's hand. "Partners. That's us."

"Partners," Lilly echoed. "Now and forever."

"Yes," Miley said with a smile, "Now and forever."

Lilly leaned in and kissed Miley again, this time less intense but still quite pleasurable. As they finished, a knock on the passenger window startled both girls, making them jump and shriek loudly.

Miley turned around to see her Mamaw smiling at them through the window. She lowered the window and placed her hand over her heart. "Mamaw! You scared us both nearly to death!"

Lilly leaned even closer to Miley and added, "Ms. Stewart, I came _this close_ to peeing on myself!" as she held up her left hand, finger and thumb just millimeters apart to indicate how close a call it had been. However, she never released Miley's left hand from the grip of her right hand until she and Miley both opened their doors to get out.

Miley hopped out and hugged her grandmother Ruthie Stewart as Lilly ran around the car to do the same. "It's so good to see you, Mamaw," Miley said as she hugged her tightly.

Lilly contributed to the hug, wrapping her arms around Ruthie from behind her. "Yeah, it's been too long, Ms. Stewart," she said. She noted Miley's grandmother smelled faintly of apple spice and fresh linens, a scent that was both comforting and welcoming. As she and Miley released Ruthie, Lilly moved to stand beside Miley. "I guess you probably already know about us, huh?" she said as she and Miley put their arms around each other.

Ruthie looked at the two of them appreciatively, checking each of them out from top to bottom. "That I do, but don't let that stop you from telling me your news," she said with a sly grin.

Miley smiled at Lilly and said, "Well, Mamaw, Lilly and I are in love..."

"...And we're engaged," finished Lilly as they raised their left arms in unison to permit inspection of their rings. "I love doing this," Lilly admitted quietly to Miley as they let Ruthie peek at both rings.

Miley whispered back, "So do I," as her grandmother finished examining both rings.

"Those are very beautiful rings, ladies," Ruthie said happily. She held her arms out and turned slightly toward Lilly. "Welcome to the family, Lilly," she said as Lilly stepped forward and hugged her. "You be good to my little Miley, you hear?" she said softly to Lilly.

Lilly nodded and said, "I couldn't be anything but, Ms. Stewart, I promise you and her both." As Ruthie released her from her hug, Lilly saw that Miley had her pouty face on.

"Where's my congratulations, Mamaw?" Miley said, affecting offense.

"Miley Stewart, that fake pout don't work on me, so don't even try it," Ruthie said, lightly poking Miley's forehead with her index finger. "And Lilly here is our special guest, so it's only polite to welcome her here for the first time." She turned to regard Lilly as well as Miley. "But I do expect regular visits, Lilly, particularly since you two are engaged." She put her arms around both girls as they walked to the house. "So, how exactly are you two going to do this? I mean, you say you're engaged, but are you planning on getting married?" When both girls nodded, she asked, "When?"

Lilly leaned her head forward so she could see Miley clearly. "Your Mamaw doesn't beat around the bush, does she, Miley?" she asked, trying not to laugh.

"No point in wasting time," Ruthie said as they climbed the wooden steps to the elevated front porch. "Plus, it looks better for the younger members of the family if you're married before you're living together."

Miley quickly said, "We're not living together yet, Mamaw, I promise. We spend weekends together, but we each stay at our parents' houses during the week." Lilly nodded to back Miley up.

"Oh, well I suppose that works better, then," Ruthie added. "But you two better get started planning the wedding soon. These things take a while to get all the details ironed out under the best of circumstances, and I know that your schedules are a bit more complicated than most teenagers." She opened the door to let both Miley and Lilly enter the house. "And Lilly, Miley's little cousin Peyton loves you on _Sesame Street_," Ruthie added with a smile.

Lilly smiled at the compliment and said, "Aw, thanks," then she stopped as they made it inside the door. Jackson and Robbie Ray were sitting on a couch inside the door watching a football game on the television. Lilly gave each of them a hug and then turned to Ruthie. "Ms. Stewart, please don't get me wrong, because I'm thrilled that you're okay with Miley and me seeing each other, but I was expecting..." She hesitated. "Well, I'm not sure what I was expecting. Everyone has been really accepting of Miley and me, so I guess I'm waiting for some negative reaction."

"Don't jinx it, hon," Miley whispered as she stopped beside Lilly, reaching back to close the door behind them. Miley walked over to also give her father and brother a hug and thank them for letting her take Lilly to the cemetery in private. Nothing was said about what happened at the cemetery, however. That was staying between Lilly and Miley.

Ruthie went into the kitchen and said, "Want something to drink, Lilly? Or you, Miley?"

Jackson said, "I'd like something, Mamaw," not bothering to even look at her. Miley rolled her eyes and walked over into the kitchen, where Lilly and Ruthie were.

Ruthie turned and loudly said, "Then get off your lazy behind and get it, Jackson Stewart! That's why the Good Lord gave you two legs, to take care of yourself so your poor arthritic grandmother doesn't have to wait on you hand and foot!" She turned back to Lilly, who had followed her into the kitchen, and said with a smile, "Would you like lemonade or iced tea, Lilly?"

Lilly politely said, "Lemonade would be awesome, Ms. Stewart." She managed not to laugh at Ruthie's response to Jackson, but she couldn't entirely suppress the grin.

As she poured Lilly some lemonade, Ruthie said, "Now Lilly, with you being part of the family, I expect you to either call me Ruthie or Mamaw, you got me?"

Lilly nodded as she took a drink of the lemonade, the sweetness and tartness both sliding like liquid fire down her throat. "Wow, that's good," she said. "Hadn't realized I was so thirsty." As Miley walked over, Lilly handed her the glass of lemonade, which Miley happily took a long drink of. Lilly turned back to Ruthie and said, "Okay, Mamaw, and thanks," smiling as Miley sat down at the table which Lilly was standing next to.

Ruthie refilled the girls' glass with the pitcher of lemonade, then she said, "So you weren't sure what to expect?"

Lilly said, "Well, Miley said she thought you probably already knew about us, and when you came to California I realized that you were a lot cooler than I had originally expected. I mean, you being Miley's grandma and all. But except for Aunt Dolly, I haven't met most of Miley's family. It's their reaction I'm not sure of."

Ruthie pulled out a chair and sat down at the table, patting the surface of the table to indicate Lilly should sit as well. As Lilly complied, Ruthie said, "Lilly, I've heard quite a bit about how much you love my little Miley. I've also seen that video of you attacking that one boy who was hurting Miley. You can thank Jackson for showing me that one." She looked at Jackson, who was still apparently glued to the couch. She turned her gaze back at Lilly, who was blushing slightly. "Nice work on him, by the way," she said, making Lilly turn a bit more red. "If you hadn't turned your back on him--" She smiled. "Sorry. My dear Harold, God rest his soul, loved his wrestling when he was alive. Had to watch that foolishness for thirty years. Guess you pick up a few things if you watch it long enough." She smoothed out her shirt and then said, "Now, where was I? Oh yes!" She took Lilly's hands in her own and said, "Lilly, it's obvious to me how much you and Miley care about each other. Is anything that anyone here says to you or Miley going to break you two up?"

Surprised, Lilly emphatically said, "No! Absolutely not!" as she turned to look at Miley.

Ruthie gently smiled and said, "That's what I thought. Miley, same goes for you?"

Miley said in a quieter but still firm voice, "Right. Nobody is going to split us up."

"Good," Ruthie said sincerely. "If anybody tries to stir up trouble with you two, tell 'em to buzz off. And if that doesn't work, you come find me. Christmas is the season of joy and happiness, and if any of your family acts otherwise, I'll smack some sense into their their thick heads!"

Lilly and Miley laughed at Ruthie's statement, then Miley said, "Well, the only person I was really worried about seeing isn't going to be here, at least." At that statement, Ruthie's smile faded, which Lilly was quick to notice.

After a long silence, Ruthie said, "I'm not sure what goes through your cousin Luanne's head, Miley. When you two were younger, she was so sweet. Most of the time."

Miley snorted. "She was never sweet, Mamaw, she just had all the grown-ups fooled. You remember when Jackson broke your window playing baseball?" Not waiting for her grandmother to answer, Miley continued, "Luanne did that. Jackson hit the ball, sure, and it just about hit the house, but Luanne picked up the ball, turned around and threw it through the window. I was standing back there where I could see her do it, but she threatened to tie my hair into knots while I was asleep if I ever told anyone what she had done. Not that anyone would have believed me, back then anyway."

"That's in the past, Miley," Ruthie said. "And Luanne is still my granddaughter, just like you. Heaven's sakes, you two looked like you were twins! I just wish some of your goodness would have carried over to her," she said wistfully.

Lilly cleared her throat, then she said, "Ruthie, I saw Luanne in action when she came to California. I didn't believe Miley at first when she tried to warn us about her, and Luanne almost blew Miley's big secret of being Hannah because she was jealous of Miley." She looked at Miley with a firm glance, then she said, "I don't trust her at all, no matter how much she looks like Miley. She's an evil genius, all right." She looked again at Miley as they shared a slight smile. This time, they had come prepared, just in case Luanne made a surprise appearance this week. But there was no need to make that public.

Ruthie stood up and took the girls' glass over to the sink. "You two want to help me get ready for breakfast tomorrow? With it being Saturday, I expect we'll be gettin' lots more company then."

Lilly grinned as she said, "Sure!" Miley looked happy too, as she thought about helping her Mamaw cook. It had been a very long time, and she had fond memories of their time together making breakfast.

Ruthie smiled and said, "Then you two can take your young legs and go get some eggs for tomorrow." She turned back to the cupboard and called over her shoulder, "Hen house is still where it always has been, Miley."

Miley looked at Lilly and said, "C'mon, let's go out the back door," leading Lilly down the hallway to a smaller door. As they opened the thick inner door, it revealed a small screen door, which Miley pushed open easily. Lilly saw that behind the house was a covered rear porch with all-weather chairs and a table, then a small concrete path led to a fenced-in area adjacent to the house. It was getting dark outside, and Lilly couldn't see any movement inside the fenced-in area until she and Miley were right up to it. As they grew closer, Lilly saw that the lot was divided into smaller sections by more chicken wire fencing. Closest to the house was a small wooden building with an opening for a door. The hen house was about six feet by eight feet, and roughly six feet tall.

"Is that the chicken house?" Lilly asked, examining the structure carefully. "Can't see anything inside it."

Miley peered through the wire and said, "Yeah, can you run back inside and get a flashlight? We'll need something to carry the eggs in, too."

"Can do," Lilly said, running back down the path and inside the house.

As she waited on Lilly to come back, Miley looked up and saw the moon peeking out from behind one of the clouds in the sky. It was just starting to glow, casting its silvery light over the night sky. Miley started fumbling with the door latch to the pen as Lilly came back outside. "Here you go, Miles," Lilly said as she held the flashlight out for Miley. Miley continued to work with the door latch as Lilly added, "Oh, and your Mamaw said to tell you that Sunny was out, whoever that is." Miley froze, her hands still on the latch. She reached over and took the flashlight from Lilly. "Who's Sunny, Miley?" Lilly asked.

Miley clicked on the flashlight and began slowly shining it around the interior of the pen. "Sunny is Mamaw's mean pygmy goat," she said with grim severity.

Lilly laughed. "A mean pygmy goat? You mean, like a little miniature one?" she said, holding her hands out in front of her, about a foot apart.

Miley turned and looked at Lilly. "Yes, a mean pygmy goat." she said, not a hint of a smile on her face. She turned back to the pen, again shining the flashlight around the interior of the enclosure. "Did I ever tell you about the neighbor's dog that I was scared to death of?"

Lilly thought, then she said, "Um, no, you haven't. It was around here?"

Miley said, "Yeah, it belonged to this one boy up the road, Todd Gentry. He had a big crush on me when we were growing up. I have no clue what kind of dog it was, other than big, black, and mean. It used to chase me all the time when it caught me out in the field playing. Then one day, I was trying to catch Sunny after he got out of the pen, and we kinda wound up chasin' each other out into the field. Well, that dog, Rambo was his name, saw me and came tearin' down the road, barking at me." She stopped shining the light around to turn and look at Lilly. "So I just froze, because I had Sunny between me and Mamaw's house and Rambo between me and the creek. I'm standing there waiting for that dog to chew a hole in my pants again, when Sunny comes running past me with his head down and hits Rambo head on, with this big _WHACK!_ sound." Lilly started laughing furiously as Miley continued. "Knocked Rambo out cold, I swear on my life. That dog never chased me again." Miley was grinning at that point, remembering the story.

"Sounds like Sunny wasn't that bad," Lilly said, still finding it hard to imagine a tiny goat being anything other than cute.

Miley stopped and turned to look at Lilly again. "He knocked me down on the way back to Mamaw's and bit the back of my leg right afterwards," she said, triggering another spell of laughing from Lilly. "It's not funny!" Miley said.

"Oh Miles," Lilly said in between laughs, "it sounds pretty funny to me."

Miley held the light in one position, then she said, "You'll get to decide for yourself." As Lilly followed the beam's path, she saw a small honey-colored goat with two small horns on its head, looking squarely back into the beam of light.

"Aw, he's so cute!" Lilly said. The goat was small, about the size of a beagle as best as Lilly could estimate, and it had a rather placid look on its face. "You woke him up, Miley! See how sleepy he looks?"

Miley looked at Lilly with disbelief. "Lilly, that goat is mean as a rattlesnake! Actually, more like mean as a copperhead. Rattlesnakes at least have the decency to give you some warnin' before they bite." She handed Lilly the flashlight and said, "Keep the light on him, and yell if he comes after me," as she finally opened the latch and eased the door open.

Lilly held her arm out and said, "Uh uh. If the goat's that mean, then I'm coming in too." She stepped inside the enclosure, keeping the light firmly on the small goat still lying down at the far side of the pen. Miley eased in behind Lilly, pulling the door closed but not latching it. It was only a few feet to the chicken house, and Miley quickly stepped inside, motioning for Lilly to follow her. Lilly stepped inside the small building, which was lined with shelves on all sides; each shelf was partitioned into small compartments, all full of straw and most of them occupied by at least one chicken. The chickens looked at the girls with interest and a few soft clucks were heard, but none of the birds stirred.

"They're sluggish because it's late," Miley explained. "If you're quick, you can get the eggs without really disturbing them. If one does peck at you though, it won't hurt, it just kinda startles you." She started gently lifting chickens, easing eggs out from under them. As she retrieved the eggs, she carefully placed them in the plastic bowl Lilly was carrying. After retrieving at least nearly two dozen eggs, Miley said, "Okay, that should be enough." She took the flashlight back from Lilly and carefully peeked outside the hen house. Not seeing Sunny, she peered around the corner. "Good goat," she said as she saw Sunny still resting where they had seen him before. "C'mon, let's get out of here," she said to Lilly, moving to the door. As Miley opened the door and stepped outside, she turned to let Lilly out, then she screamed, "LILLY! Get out, get out!!"

At the sound of Miley's yell, Lilly surged forward, her heart instantly pounding as she burst through the door right before Miley slammed it behind them, the latch automatically clicking as the door closed fully. As Lilly turned, the entire fence rattled with a metallic ring from the impact of Sunny's charge, which shook the door fiercely. She turned to look at Miley, who looked just as frazzled. "My gosh," she said softly. "You weren't joking."

Miley shook her head. "Nope," she said softly. She kicked dirt at the goat, then she said, "Hope that hurt your stupid head!" to Sunny, who snorted and then turned back around, loping back to his slumber spot.

Miley opened the house's screen door for Lilly, then she closed both doors when Lilly entered. Lilly carried the bowl of eggs back to the kitchen, where Ruthie said, "You can just put those in the egg cartons in the fridge, dear," pointing at the refrigerator.

"That was a mean goat, Ruthie," Lilly said. "Miley was telling me about him right before he charged us."

Ruthie turned and said, "Poor Miley had a hard time with Sunshine when she was younger." She smiled and patted Miley on the head, making her blush slightly. "I sewed up quite a few outfits where Sunny would knock her down and try to chew on her clothes."

Not wanting to spend any more time thinking about her other childhood nemesis, Miley grabbed Lilly's hand and said, "C'mon, let's go sit outside for a bit." She stopped in the living room and picked up two blankets, handing them to Lilly and then nearly dragging Lilly out the front door.

Lilly gamely went along, closing the door behind them as they stepped out onto the covered front porch. With dark now fully settled on the valley except for the moon's pale glow, the air was noticeably colder. "Where are we going, Miley?" Lilly asked, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness. There were no outside lights on at the moment, and the darkness seemed profound to Lilly.

"The barn," answered Miley, who looked over her shoulder at Lilly with a grin that Lilly felt as much as saw. In just a minute they had arrived at the large wooden barn. "Mamaw usually keeps a horse or two out here, but with it gettin' so cold she's probably lettin' them stay in the stables."

At the mention of horses, Lilly got excited. "Will you take me riding with you while we're here, Miley?" she asked. Lilly had never ridden a horse, but she had wanted to for some time.

As they walked into the large open area of the barn and strode across the bare dirt floor, Miley turned and said, "Of course, sweetie! I didn't know you wanted to ride."

"Well, it just never really came up before," Lilly said quietly. "But I'd love to get to ride with you. I mean, riding behind you while you steered the horse. Or whatever you call it."

Miley stopped next to a ladder going up and turned to look back at Lilly. "I'll take you tomorrow if it's not too cold, okay?" she said with a warm smile as she gripped the ladder.

Lilly smiled a bright smile in return. Her eyes were adjusting, and details were becoming clear again. "That'd be awesome, Miles, thanks."

Miley turned and stepped up onto the wooden ladder, which was firmly mounted to a large support pole climbing into the vaulted heights of the barn. "Come up here with me, Lilly," she said as she began climbing.

Lilly tossed the blankets over her shoulder and followed Miley up the ladder. After several rungs, Lilly was at the level of the large hayloft, about ten or twelve feet off the ground. Miley took the blankets off Lilly's shoulder, then she helped Lilly step off the ladder, around the pole, and onto the wooden floor of the hayloft. Once Lilly was back on solid ground, Miley took her hand and led her further back into the loft, back to where a large amount of hay had been stored. Miley felt her way carefully to the sloping wall of the hayloft--which was also the roof of the barn--then she said, "Here it is." Lilly heard her slide a wooden bolt, then Miley pushed a section of the roof out. It was obviously on hinges, because it squeaked as it swung to the right, banging into the adjacent part of the roof as it opened fully.

"Oh wow..." Lilly said as she gazed up into the night sky, now clear of most clouds. "Look at the stars!" Lilly said, awestruck at both the sheer number of sparkling stars and the clarity with which she could see them. Here there were no lights blocking the delicate glow of the stars and no haze to blur the skies, giving Lilly the clearest view of the night sky she could ever remember. She reached back for Miley's hand, but when Miley didn't take her hand right away, she felt around behind her. She quickly felt part of Miley that wasn't exactly her hand, but she gave it a warm squeeze anyway, getting a jump and soft cry from Miley.

"That was my butt you grabbed, Lilly," Miley said.

Lilly grinned as she continued to look at the twinkling stars scattered heavily across the inky black sky, like tiny diamonds thrown across a sheet of black velvet. "Was it?" she asked innocently. Her next statement was frozen in her throat as Miley's warm hands slid up and under the front of Lilly's shirt as Miley moved to hold Lilly from behind.

"Cat got your tongue?" asked Miley slyly as she began caressing Lilly's stomach, gently moving her hands up to nudge against Lilly's bra.

Lilly leaned back, letting herself fall into the sensation of her lover's burning touch against her tingling skin. "Cat's going to get more than my tongue if she's not careful," Lilly said as she reached back over her head to grip Miley's head, pulling her lover even closer to her. "Or was that the cat's plan?" she asked. As Miley's caresses continued, Lilly felt her own hunger for the woman she had given her life to intensify. "You got some place we can lie down, Miles?" Lilly asked as her breathing began to intensify and grow slightly ragged. Miley's left hand had dislodged Lilly's bra, but her right hand had now slipped down the front of Lilly's pants.

"Turn around, hon," Miley said softly to Lilly. Lilly turned and saw that Miley had spread the blankets over a thick layer of hay, slightly inclined. Miley removed her hands from Lilly's clothes, allowing a chill to settle lightly against Lilly's now-warm skin. She knelt down and folded back one of the blankets, revealing the second one likewise spread over the hay. "Climb in," Miley said with a smile. "I used to love making hay beds when I was little," Miley said as she and Lilly lay down on the springy hay. Lilly was surprised at how supportive the hay was, and the blanket kept it from being too prickly or itchy. As Miley snuggled up next to her, Lilly helped pull the top blanket over them, tucking it in on her side while Miley did the same on hers. Miley kissed Lilly on the cheek as they got settled. "But now I get to share looking at the stars up here with you," she told Lilly as she ran her hand through Lilly's blonde hair, rendered a ghostly silver by the moon's light.

Lilly turned to look at Miley, and she was struck by the intensity of the look in Miley's eyes. The soft blue tint of Miley's irises had been transformed into a steely black, in contrast to the stark white surrounding them. Lilly kissed Miley warmly, letting the passion that had been building all day run free at last. The young women let their needs dictate the pace of their kisses and touches, picking up speed as their desires grew more and more powerful. When Lilly started to slide Miley's pants down, Miley interrupted their kissing to whisper, "No, don't take any clothes off, hon. The hay'll get in and itch us like crazy." Lilly settled for sliding her hand inside Miley's pants until she found her target, coaxing a raw gasp from her lover as Lilly touched Miley in a way only she ever would. Lilly watched Miley's frosty breath as she panted in time to Lilly's touch, first slowly, then faster, then faster yet again. After a few minutes, Miley whimpered and made her little squeaking noises as she folded her legs across Lilly's wrist, trapping Lilly's hand in place and pulling it deeper, holding it there through the slight jerking as the orgasm washed over Miley.

As Miley relaxed, Lilly's heart was pounding at the show Miley had given her unknowingly. As Miley's eyes slowly opened again and she turned to look at Lilly, smiling proudly, Lilly said, "You are so beautiful, Miley," with a reverent voice. The passion in Miley's eyes made her gaze even more penetrating as she took in the sight of Lilly, _her_ Lilly, bathed in the argent moonlight as they lay together in the hayloft. For Miley, it was the joining of two periods of her life, two different worlds really. Her childhood and her innocence had met and now joined with her nascent adulthood, her sexuality, her future. It was a moment profound in its simplicity, and it only could have been right with Lilly here. No one else would have been welcome here with Miley, either at this place or at this point in her life. Miley softly said to Lilly, "This moment is perfect with you here." She smiled as she leaned forward and kissed her best friend, who held her tightly.

"I agree," said Lilly against Miley's soft lips. She felt Miley's long fingers slide against her belly and unbutton her pants. As Miley's hands shifted Lilly's pants and panties into a happier position, Lilly closed her eyes and leaned her head forward until her forehead was resting against Miley's. As her breathing quickened at Miley's delicate but demanding touch, Lilly gasped as she reveled in the touch of her girlfriend. No further speech was needed between the two young lovers, as they passionately and wordlessly declared their true love for each other under the starry heavens.

After their intimate moments, Miley and Lilly lay together, staring up at the stars as they enjoyed their closeness. Lilly broke the silence by saying, "That old U2 song talked about stars shining like nails in the night. I never understood that until right now. It's like all this light is held back behind a wall of black, and the stars are itty bitty holes letting it seep through."

Miley smiled as she shifted slightly. The prickles of the hay were starting to be felt through through the blankets, and the natural high of their orgasms were starting to wear off, letting the poking sensation of the hay begin to register on the girls' backs. "Ready to go to bed, Lil?" she asked.

Lilly turned to look back at Miley. "Yeah, I think so." Slowly, they stood back up. Each took a blanket and shook it out, then they roughly folded them and walked back over to the ladder.

"Just toss 'em down," Miley said. "We'll have to wash those things anyway." Lilly obliged by dropping hers, which landed on the dirt floor with a soft thump, followed immediately after by Miley's. Miley climbed onto the ladder first and made her way down. Lilly followed as soon as Miley's head was far enough below to permit Lilly's foot on the ladder. As Miley touched the ground, she moved to allow Lilly to hop off the last three rungs, landing with a light bounce.

Lilly took Miley's hand as they began walking toward the house. "I've had a great day with you, Miley," she said. "What's planned for tomorrow?"

Miley thought as they walked back to the farmhouse. "Well, my uncle and aunts should be here tomorrow or Sunday. They usually come by for breakfast the weekend before Christmas. We could always go to the family campsite tomorrow, maybe stay there for a little bit. Plus I can show you around, we can ride horses, lots of fun things we can do."

As they walked back up onto the porch, Lilly said, "All of those sound great, and I do want you to take me riding tomorrow. I'm not too keen on the camping thing, though. I mean, it's going to be below freezing. Heck, it already _is_ below freezing!" She opened the door for Miley as they walked inside.

Back on the side of the road, a pair of binoculars tracked their movement. As Miley and Lilly went inside, the binoculars lowered, revealing a pair of eyes the same color as Miley's but devoid of any of her warmth. Luanne smiled a cold smile as she waited for the right moment, probably tomorrow or Sunday. But it would indeed come, that she was certain of. She started up her dark red Jeep and pulled back onto the road. Now that she had a plan, it was time to get a few things to put it into motion. And there was a stop to make even before that.

She drove less than a mile up the road before she pulled into a driveway. She parked the Jeep just off the road and walked the rest of the way up the winding driveway. It was indeed cold tonight, but she was dressed for it. Anyway, the thoughts of her revenge against Miley were more than enough to keep her warm for now.

Miley had always gotten everything, all the love, all the attention, all the success. And what had Luanne gotten? A father who drank too much, a mother she had never known, and a stepmother who could care less. At least Miley got to know her mother before she died, to have her there as she grew up. That was something Luanne had never known, as her mother had died giving birth to her. Her father, Bobby Ray Stewart, told Luanne that she had nearly died too during the disastrous delivery.

Luanne snorted as she approached the Gentrys' house. The youngest Gentry boy, Todd, had carried a flame for Miley ever since they were young. Luanne suspected that flame was still there, ready to be fanned into burning brightly again. As she strode up onto the porch, she fluffed her hair slightly, then she rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, she heard footsteps approach the door. The door opened, revealing Todd Gentry, not so young anymore. Todd stood roughly six feet tall, with short, dark hair which he kept cut close. He played football and baseball in school, and there was no doubt that he was very attractive. Luanne smiled. This was going to doubly fun.

"Miley?" Todd said, surprise in his voice.

"Hi Todd," Luanne said. "Mind if I come in?" she said, giving him a smile that made him swallow reflexively.

"Uh, sure, sure," he said, moving to let her step inside. "Cold out tonight, huh?"

Luanne took off her coat, revealing a thin longsleeved pale blue turtleneck, which accentuated the curves of her breasts nicely. She dropped the coat on the floor, leaning over to pick it up to give him a good view of her shapely rear in her tight jeans. As she stood up, she noticed his forehead had a light sheen of sweat forming. _This is going to be too easy_, she thought delightfully.

"Are you back for the holidays?" Todd asked, remembering his manners.

"Yup," Luanne answered, looking around. "Where are your parents?"

Todd closed the door back, then walked over to stand next to Luanne. "They went to Biltmore House for the night. Over in Asheville. North Carolina." Mentally he kicked himself for blabbing on, but seeing the girl of his boyhood dreams had triggered emotions he had forgotten for years.

Luanne smiled again as she moved closer to him. "Oh really? So they'll be gone for the whole night?" she asked, already well aware of where Todd's parents were and when they would be back.

"Uh, yeah," Todd said. His voice cracked suddenly, causing him to turn red. "Sorry Miley, I got choked, I think."

"Well, let me do something about that," Luanne said. She stepped against him and pulled his head down to give him a fiery kiss. As she pulled back, leaving him wanting more, she said, "Is this okay? I mean, is it too much too soon?"

Todd's heart was pounding as he put his arms around Luanne's shoulders, holding her tightly. "No, Miley," he said, scarcely believing this was happening. "I've..." He paused, looking down at her again. "I've wanted this for so long, it's not funny."

Luanne could tell he was shy; maybe he had never been with a girl before. But this was not the time to ask such a question. "Then don't let me stop you, Todd," she said as she lifted his shirt up, getting him to take it off completely. "Is your bedroom in the same place?" she asked, pushing his bare chest toward the hall.

"Yeah," he said, finally smiling. "It is." He picked her up and carefully walked down the hall to his room, kissing her along the way. As he set her on the bed, she began taking off her shirt while he undid his pants. "What made you--"

"Shhh!" Luanne hissed sharply. She caught herself immediately and smiled again. "We can talk later, but now we need this," she said as she undid her bra. "Come over here, because I need you, in more ways than one," she said to him. And this, alone out of everything else she was about to tell him, _this_ at least was true.

As Miley and Lilly made their way to the bedroom that would be theirs for the next few days, Lilly yawned loudly. Miley turned and gave her a silly look, making her laugh as she finished the yawn. "You're so silly sometimes, Miley," Lilly said.

Miley grinned as they turned on the light in the bedroom. Their small flotilla of bags had been placed against the walls of the room, leaving them a narrow path to walk between the queen bed and the bathroom. Miley closed the door as Lilly picked her way to the bathroom. Miley opened the suitcase carrying their sleepwear and pulled out two sets of pajamas for them, both a soft green, and clean panties for both of them. She heard Lilly turn on the shower, so she carried the pajamas and panties into the bathroom.

Lilly was standing at the shower naked, and Miley took just a moment to appreciate Lilly's figure. Her long blonde hair had fallen down against her back, and Lilly had her hands clasped behind her waist, eager to hop into a warm shower. Lilly's legs had added lean muscle from the soccer, giving her calves and thighs new definition. As Miley silently stood there, Lilly suddenly whirled around. "Oh! I thought I felt you back there, Miley," she said. "That's kind of a weird feeling." She walked over to Miley and lifted Miley's shirt over her head, tossing it onto the floor. "Can't get into the shower with those clothes on, silly girl," she said teasingly.

Miley grinned as she lightly traced a circle around Lilly's left nipple with her fingertip. "Guess not," she said, enjoying Lilly's shiver at her touch. She reached behind her to unhook her bra as Lilly unsnapped Miley's jeans then pulled them and her panties down in one firm motion. The bra fell onto the floor atop the discarded shirt, forgotten as the two young women kissed, their passion once again awakened. "We need to get into the shower," Miley said, trying to hold Lilly's arms back without much success. "Walls are thinner here," she gasped as Lilly's tongue licked Miley's left ear.

"'Kay," Lilly said with an impish grin as she pulled back the shower curtain and stepped in. To Miley's surprise, Lilly held her hand out, preventing her from getting in the shower. "I'm taking my shower now. You can take yours next," she said with a straight face. She pulled the shower curtain closed again.

Miley was dumbstruck for exactly three seconds. "Screw that," she said, loud enough for Lilly to hear, then she jerked the curtain back and stepped in. Lilly was leaning against the wall of the shower, obviously waiting for Miley's entrance.

"The look on your face was priceless!" Lilly said laughingly. Miley grabbed Lilly's hips and pulled her lover against her body aggressively. "Mmmm," Lilly purred as the warm water washed over them, soaking both heads of hair and spattering against both bodies, Lilly's right side and Miley's left, as they stood there staring into each other's blue eyes. "Was the hayloft not enough for you, lover?" Lilly asked suggestively.

"Not nearly," Miley said, her voice huskier than usual. She shifted her hands to hold Lilly's rear as she kissed Lilly deeply, not being as gentle as they usually were. Her need to have Lilly near had always been instinctive, and that had intensified after they made love for the first time. But this... this was different. Right now she wanted Lilly in a primal, almost animalistic way, and she was going to get what she wanted. She dropped to her knees as Lilly moved to shield her from the spray of the water, then Miley took what she needed as Lilly freely offered all she had.

The second time Lilly reached orgasm, Miley brought herself along with just a few quick touches; she was already so excited, that was all it took to push her over the edge. Lilly's legs started to give way, so she slid down the shower wall as Miley tried in vain to slow her fall. Both of them were too far lost in the waves of ecstasy to focus on little things like gravity, after all. Thankfully, Lilly's sliding succeeded in preventing any injury to either young woman, and they instinctively wrapped their arms around each other as they huddled together in the bathtub floor of the shower. As they slowly came back to reality with Lilly sprawled across Miley's lap, Lilly opened her eyes and looked into Miley's face. She was rewarded by seeing her lover's eyelashes bat as she gradually fluttered and then opened her eyes, revealing those ocean blue eyes Lilly could no longer live without. "Hi," Lilly said weakly.

"Hi yourself," replied Miley, smiling uncontrollably. "Want to wash our hair in the mornin'?"

Lilly nodded her head. "Oh yeah. Miley, that was..." She searched for the right word, finally settling on, "Let's just say it rocked my socks, it was so good."

Miley giggled as she squeezed Lilly. "Thanks. I just _needed_ you so bad. Sorry if it surprised you."

Lilly lifted Miley's chin as from where she had tilted it down slightly. "What the heck are you apologizing for, Miley?" Lilly asked. "That might have been the hardest I've ever come, so trust me, you haven't got a thing to apologize for!"

"Good," Miley said, her shyness seeming all the more unusual in contrast to the abandon with which she had taken Lilly just minutes earlier. She looked up at the water spraying from the showerhead. "We need to get out soon, because the hot water is going--"

At that point the hot water went from _going_ to _gone_, turning the water icy cold in the span of a few seconds. The girls scrambled to turn off the water, nearly colliding with each other as they both reached for the knobs. As Lilly finally turned off the hot and cold water knobs, Miley shucked the shower curtain back, grabbing their towels. They hurriedly dried off and slipped into their pajamas, leaving their hair wrapped in towels as they hopped into the fluffy bed. They snuggled together face to face, their bodies touching all along their lengths, arms draped over each other. Miley leaned in and softly kissed Lilly. "Good night, Lilly. I love you," she said with a warm smile. "Thank you for coming with me and for spending Christmas with me."

Lilly returned Miley's kiss but on Miley's nose, getting a giggle from Miley. "You're welcome, and thank you for inviting me. I couldn't have gone a week without seeing you anyway, Miles," Lilly said. She closed her eyes, prompting Miley to do the same. Within seconds the bliss of slumber had claimed both of them.

Just about a mile away, Luanne quietly slipped out the front door of Todd's house. She smiled as she thought of how frantic he'd be when he awoke without her there. Well, the note and phone number she had left him would certainly make him call her, allowing her to keep the reins tight on this working relationship. If he prematurely found out she wasn't really Miley, his reaction would be unpredictable, so he wasn't going to find out until Luanne's scheme was completed. She'd reveal the deception herself then. Discovering he'd been tricked into surrendering his virginity to someone other than the girl he was still in love with would be painful. Discovering that he'd unknowingly ruined the life of that same girl would certainly break his heart. Thinking about how he'd react to those damning revelations caused Luanne to smile a thin, humorless smile. Yes, her plan covered all the bases indeed.

**Author's Afterword:** If you thought my Jake was mean, wait until you see Luanne in action. Plus, there are more surprises in store before this story is complete, with at least one some of you might see coming and one I doubt anyone will expect at this point. The rest of Miley's family arrives next chapter, and not everyone is going to be happy with her and Lilly's relationship. Hope everyone is still enjoying the story, because we're getting closer and closer to the end. The weather here is turning colder, and it's starting to feel like time for the holidays, which makes writing this more fun. See everyone as soon as I can finish the next chapter!

-- Jo --


	14. Chapter 14: Storm Front

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the very nice reviews, and I love to see everyone who's still reading along with Miley and Lilly! We had a few questions in the reviews, and I want to make sure and answer them as well as recognize a few of the reviewers. First, **xTexasgalx**, it's always wonderful to hear from you. You're one of the most faithful readers of all the Liley stories, and I think it's safe to say that all of us writing them love you! Your reviews are always clear, specific, and so energetic. You're a joy to have as a reader, because you truly enjoy the stories, and that's what it all comes down to. Next, **IlovADJL**, you asked if I had the story preplanned. Well, the answer is yes and no. I always start with a concept, then I try to focus on a few specific "targets." For me, a target could be a particular scene, an event, a location, or something that happens to one of the characters, and they tend to come to me during the day when I'm not actually writing actively. As I write from target to target, I let the story fill itself in as I write. Quite often a scene will wind up being very different from how I had originally envisioned it, simply because the story wanted to play out differently. Now, **Tom K.A.** asked how some of Miley's family didn't know she was gay if they already knew she was Hannah Montana. Simply put, not everyone in her extended family knows the big secret of Hannah Montana. The only people that we are _sure_ know are her father and brother, her Mamaw, Aunt Dolly, and her cousin Luanne. It's _assumed_ that her uncle Bobby Ray knows, but even if he does it's one thing to read about your niece being gay in a magazine and quite another to sit across a dinner table from her and her girlfriend. Just because he knows (if he does) doesn't mean he's going to be happy that the two of them are there. And now, on with the story! For my standard disclaimers, please see Chapter 1.

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 14: Storm Front

_Keep holding on_

_'Cause you know we'll make it through_

_Just stay strong_

_'Cause you know I'm here for you_

_--_Avril Lavigne; "Keep Holding On"

_Lilly awoke to the sound of a rooster crowing outside her window. "What the heck is that?" she said, sitting straight up in bed. She looked beside her and saw a familiar head of dark brown hair, scattered across the single large pillow the two had been sharing. Without waking Miley, Lilly bent down and kissed her on her head, getting a sleepy grunt in response. "You rest, sweet girl," Lilly whispered as she slid out of the bed._

_She walked to the door and opened it. Miley's Mamaw's house seemed very quiet, but at least it wasn't too cold this morning. The rooster crowed again, making Lilly jump slightly, but this time she realized what it was. "Stupid bird," she muttered as she padded down the hallway barefoot. As she walked into the main sitting room, she saw that the front door was standing open, and the screen door was all that was separating the interior of the house from the porch. "Why isn't it colder?" Lilly said to herself, walking forward and looking out the screen. _

_The sun was starting to rise off to her right, peeking over the top of the large mountain range as it slowly spread across the green field in front of the house. "Okay, I know that field wasn't so green when we got here yesterday," she said to herself again._

"_Looks pretty green to me," a gentle voice said from Lilly's left, outside on the porch._

_Not expecting anyone to be up this early, Lilly pushed the screen door open and stepped out onto the porch. Rocking in one of the rocking chairs on the porch sat a woman with Miley's long, dark brown hair, brilliant blue eyes, and warm smile. She was wearing a light denim jacket and thoroughly worn blue jeans, just right for the early morning nip in the air. "Hello Lilly," said Miley's mother. "Come sit for a bit with me." She patted the armrest of the rocking chair beside her._

"_I'm guessing this is a dream?" Lilly said hesitantly, drawing her sentence out slightly. She wasn't shocked to see Miley's mother again after their previous encounters, but this was the first time she had seen Brooke Stewart without Miley also being present._

"_Good guess," said Miley's mother, smiling as Lilly sat down next to her and began slowly rocking. "It's always so beautiful here when the sun is coming up."_

_Lilly watched the sun, now over halfway risen above the mountain. "Yeah, it sure is," she said. She turned to look at Brooke. She looked solid, real, if a little sad. But this was definitely a dream, Lilly knew it. The season was different, the weather was different... But the house was the same, Lilly could see that as she looked down at the porch and the rocking chair. Then she froze, her breath caught in her throat for a moment._

_Lilly hadn't meant to look at her arm or hand. She had really looked down to examine the rocking chairs more closely, but she had inadvertently glanced at her left hand, and there she had noticed something was different. She held up her left arm and looked closely at the simple gold band nestled against her engagement ring. As her eyes began to tear up, Lilly fought to keep from crying. She closed her eyes tightly against the tears and instead brought the wedding band up to her lips, kissing both rings softly. _

_After a short time, she wiped her eyes with the bottom of her shirt and looked at Mrs. Stewart. "I've wanted this for what seems like forever, and we still have at least a year to wait. Well, in the waking world, at least." She smiled as she again looked at her hand. "But just feeling this ring on my finger, it's telling me that yeah, we're gonna make it. I mean, I believe Miley and I believe the other dreams, but really feeling it myself, really seeing it with my own two eyes, it's something else completely."_

_Miley's mother smiled lovingly at Lilly as she spoke. "Lilly, you and Miley are amazing young women. I'm so proud that my daughter found you and that you found her. Even though some people won't understand or accept your love, it IS wonderful and special, as with all true love. The love between the two of you is powerful, more powerful than you realize. Normally I can only appear to you if you're in one of Miley's dreams, but the two of you have grown so close that now I can sometimes talk to you instead. Miley will be joining us soon, but right now I wanted to talk to you privately."_

_Lilly had some concerns about that last statement. Normally if someone wanted to talk privately, that meant there were things that only a few people needed to know. "What aren't you telling me, Mrs. Stewart?"_

_Miley's mother smiled at Lilly and took Lilly's left hand, tracing the wedding band on Lilly's finger as she spoke. "I wish I could tell you more, Lilly. Remember, the love you and Miley carry for each other is true. Have faith in your love, trust each other, and listen to your feelings. The two of you are going to face some challenges over the years, but as long as you stay together you can overcome whatever obstacles life throws at you. You have to take care of each other." Her eyes sparkled for an instant as she added, "I think you're about to have company."_

"_Lilly, who are you talking to?" Miley's said, her voice carrying from inside the house. "Heck, what are you doing up so early?" As Miley stepped out onto the porch, she looked at her mother and said, "Mom?" She stopped in her current position, her arms holding a blanket, apparently to ward off the chill. "Dream?" Miley asked Lilly as she looked down to focus on Lilly, who was now comfortably rocking away._

_Lilly looked back up at Miley and nodded. "Yep," she said succinctly. "You dreaming too?" she asked. _

_Miley nodded in reply. "You notice the wedding band?" she asked with a bright grin, her face aglow. When Lilly nodded, Miley added, "Well, that's not all we have to look forward to," she said as she bent over and set the blanket in Lilly's lap._

"_Thanks Miles, but I'm really not cold..." Lilly's words trailed off as she realized that the blanket wasn't empty. As Miley moved an end of the blanket, Lilly saw a tiny head of wispy blonde hair, crowning a round face that looked so much like Miley that Lilly was astounded. Her face shot back up as she focused on Miley. "Miley! Is this..." Her voice failed her as she tried to speak. Instead, she looked back down at the infant wrapped in the warm blanket. Without warning, the baby girl started to stir. Reflexively, Lilly picked her up and began speaking to her softly. "Shhh, it's okay baby, it's okay. Mommy's got you." Lilly gently rested the baby against her chest, arranging the blanket to make sure no wind could give their daughter a chill. As the baby sighed happily against Lilly's chest, Miley gently ran her hand through Lilly's hair. Lilly looked back up at Miley and saw tears of joy in her lover's eyes. "It's okay, Miley," she choked out, her voice still not entirely under control. "It's okay." _

"_I know," Miley said, wiping her eyes with her other hand. "It's more than okay, Lilly. It's everything we've wanted."_

_As the baby was now in a more comfortable position, Lilly took her right hand and gently grasped Miley's. "Yes, it is," she said. _

The sound of a rooster crowing woke Lilly, giving her a sense of deja vü. She smiled as she felt Miley's arm draped over her torso from behind, her left hand resting tight against Lilly's sternum as she held her girlfriend tight. Lilly lightly ran her fingertips along the back of Miley's hand, getting a jerk from Miley. "You awake, Miles?" Lilly asked softly.

"Yeah, I am now," came the sleepy reply. Suddenly Miley shot upright in bed. "Lilly! I had a dream last night!" Miley said excitedly.

Lilly sat up as well and turned so they were facing each other, their legs touching gently. Lilly said, "I know, honey. I was there. In the dream, I mean."

Miley smiled and started, "We were here, but it wasn't winter. More like fall, or maybe spring."

"Right," Lilly picked up. "I woke up first and went outside, and your mom was on the porch. She asked me to sit with her, and we talked for a bit. Then you came out..."

"And I saw you and Momma. And I got to give you a surprise," Miley said, smiling as she shivered involuntarily.

Lilly felt her face flush slightly at Miley's look. "Yes, you sure did. She was so beautiful! She had my hair, but your face. Those little round cheeks were adorable!" She leaned forward to close the small distance between their faces and kissed Miley deeply. When they broke the kiss, both girls were sweating. "So we have that to look forward to," Lilly said, more as a statement than as a question. "Oh, and your mom told us that we had to trust each other..." She trailed off as she tried to remember what else she had been told. The kiss had shifted her thoughts to something else entirely, but she was able to pluck forth the memories of what she had been told. "Oh! Have faith in each other, trust each other, and listen to our feelings. That's what she said to me. She also said we'd have some challenges, but that as long as we stuck together and took care of each other, we could always overcome anything that got in our way."

Miley looked into Lilly's eyes as she gently traced her right index finger down Lilly's left cheek. "I'll always trust you, Lilly. And I will always have faith in us, no matter what."

"Same here, Miley," Lilly said. "If I'd trusted you last time with Luanne, we could have stopped her early on. I won't make the mistake of not believing you again."

"Good," Miley said. "And sometimes I let my temper get the best of me. I'll try really, really hard to not do that again. And if I do, please let me cool off and then point out how dumb I'm acting."

"Deal," Lilly said, laughing. "Now let's get in the shower and get ready. There's things to do and horses to ride!"

After a nice shower, the girls got dressed. Lilly had opted for a white long-sleeved shirt with multicolored horizontal stripes all over it, with jeans and hiking boots. She had one of her hats, this one a lime green, as well as her green jacket to match it. Miley was wearing a black short-sleeved Hard Knox Roller Girls t-shirt, blue jeans, boots and a plain navy sweatshirt, but the sweatshirt stayed off for now. Once they were ready, Miley opened the door to their room and they made their way down the hall to the kitchen, where the aroma of bacon, biscuits, and sausage awaited them.

"Oh, that smells great!" Lilly said as they walked into the main room. She hurried over to the kitchen, where Ruthie was scurrying about, putting bowls and plates on the table. "Let me help you with that, Ruthie," Lilly said, taking a stack of plates and beginning to set the table. "How many are we setting places for this morning?"

"Just the five of us for now, Lilly," Ruthie said. "Dolly should be here soon, but I'm not sure when Bobby Ray or Vickie will get here."

While she had never met him, Lilly of course knew who Bobby Ray was, as he was Luanne's father and Miley's uncle. However, she had only rarely heard Miley talk about her aunt Vickie. What she had heard didn't do much to soothe her concerns. From what Miley had said, Vickie was the oldest of the Stewart siblings, and she had lorded over the others for as long as possible. Vickie was fairly wealthy, having made a living in real estate, and she made sure everyone knew how much better off she was than them. Lilly knew very little else about her, as neither Miley nor Jackson spoke of her much. There was also another Stewart sibling, one Lilly had never met but had wanted to meet for some time. "How about Uncle Earl?" she asked Ruthie.

Ruthie turned and smiled at Lilly. "Earl's on a huntin' trip in Middle Tennessee. I already told him not to be a fool and try to cross the mountains outside Crossville if the weather's bad, and it looks like it's going be a humdinger of a storm tonight. So he may or may not get back here before Christmas. Just have to wait and see, I suppose." She carried over a large plate of bacon and sausage, setting it on the kitchen table. "Miley, would you be a dear and get the biscuits out of the oven?" she asked politely as she returned to the stove.

Miley said, "Sure, Mamaw," as she opened a drawer and put on an oven mitt. "Lilly, can you get me a bowl and a towel, please?" Miley asked as she pointed to the drawer where the towels were.

"Sure, hon," Lilly said cheerfully as she crossed the kitchen. She retrieved a towel first, then she found the cabinet with the bowls on the first try. She lined the bowl with the towel and held it steady while Miley shook the biscuits off the baking sheet and into the bowl. "What kind of biscuits are these?" Lilly asked, intrigued by their relative flatness and large, irregular round shape.

Before Miley could answer, Ruthie called out, "Cat-head biscuits," causing Lilly's eyes to grow rather large as she looked at Miley.

Lilly mouthed, _Do I want to know? _to Miley, getting a shrug in response. Her curiosity piqued, Lilly asked, "Okay Ruthie, why are they called that?"

Ruthie carried a dish of butter over to the table, placing it beside the bowl of biscuits. "Because when you make 'em right, they're just about as big around as a cat's head," she said matter-of-factly. "Lilly, would you be kind enough to carry the gravy over to the table, please? I'm going to go wake up the Stewart men."

Lilly grinned at Ruthie as she trudged down the hall and began pounding on the door to the guest room Robbie Ray and Jackson were staying in. As she carried the gravy from the stove, she whispered to Miley, "Have I mentioned I love your grandmother?", getting a laugh in return.

In a few minutes, Robbie Ray walked into the kitchen, fully dressed. "Mmm mmm, that smells good, Mamaw!" he said excitedly. "Mornin' ladies," he said, smiling at Miley and Lilly. Following him was a very sleepy Jackson, who shuffled into the kitchen wearing a worn-out t-shirt and sweatpants.

"You look awful, Jackson," Lilly said helpfully.

"Gee thanks, Lilly," Jackson mumbled in response. "Didn't get much sleep last night. _Ninja Warrior_ marathon on G4."

Miley and Lilly glanced at each other. "Did the ninjas force you to stay up and watch them?" Miley asked him, getting a bloodshot glare in response.

"Ha ha," Jackson said flatly.

Any further discussion about ninjas was forestalled by Ruthie sitting back down. "Eyes," she said softly, and everyone bowed their head, with Lilly following suit immediately after everyone else did. "Lord, bless this meal and bless this family. Thank you for the new member of our family, and please help us to make her feel welcome here. Help the rest of our family make it here safely. In Jesus' name, Amen."

When the prayer was complete, Lilly attacked the bacon and sausage. Jackson tried to beat her to the platter of meats, but he made the mistake of using his hand instead of a fork and nearly got stabbed for his blunder. Lilly gave him a dirty look as she debated jabbing his hand anyway, but she settled for smacking his fingers with the fork instead before he could safely remove his handful of bacon. Miley grabbed the biscuits and offered them to her grandmother first, then she appropriated two each for her and Lilly. Lilly likewise shared her bacon and sausage with Miley, then she passed it to Ruthie. Little conversation was made during what Robbie Ray had once described to Lilly as the "serious side of eatin'," but as bellies were filled, conversation started back up.

After a few minutes, a knock at the door made everyone turn to see who had arrived. Without any further ado, the door opened and a relatively large woman with frosted brown hair marched into the house. "Hello Mother," the woman said, giving Ruthie a hug, then she smiled at Robbie Ray and said, "How are you, Robbie?"

"Doin' as fine as a mole in a hole, Vickie," Robbie Ray replied with a smile.

Vickie looked at Jackson and said, "Oh my! Is this Jackson?" She walked over and patted him on the head. "How old are you now, Jackson?"

"Seventeen now, Aunt Vickie, almost eighteen," he replied. He did try to muster up a smile, but his effort came up short. In truth, he had never felt that comfortable around Vickie, who seemingly tried to dominate every conversation she found herself in during family get-togethers. He had gotten along better with Vickie's children David and Kevin, who were several years older than Jackson but equally uncomfortable with some of their mother's antics. During some of her more infamous moments, they and Jackson would often disappear until the arguments would pass.

Vickie turned her high wattage smile toward Miley and Lilly. "And this must be little Miley!" she said, rushing around the table.

_Please, __please__ don't pinch my cheeks_, Miley thought furiously as Vickie closed in on her. When she saw it was inevitable, Miley just closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as her cheek-pinching aunt struck.

"Your little cheeks are still so cute, little Smiley Miley!" Vickie said with obvious glee. Miley winced at the embarrassment but remained silent. Lilly saw the flush build on her girlfriend's face, and she responded by taking Miley's hand under the table and rubbing her palm, trying to take some of the indignity away from her and share the burden. As Vickie released Miley's cheeks, she shifted her gaze to regard Lilly. "And who are you, dear? A friend of Miley's?" she asked Lilly.

Lilly and Miley looked at each other. Lilly really didn't want to be the one who told the family members who didn't know, but she was willing to do it if Miley was uncomfortable doing so. "I'm more than a friend," said Lilly, still looking at Miley. _How do you want to do this, Miles? _Lilly asked Miley with her eyes.

Miley gave Lilly a reassuring smile and looked up at her aunt. "This is Lilly, Aunt Vickie," she said, "and she means the world to me." As Vickie started to introduce herself, Miley interrupted her by directly placing her left hand in between Vickie and Lilly. "Did you know I was engaged, Vickie?" Miley said, smiling.

"Oh Miley, that is so wonderful!" Vickie said loudly. She pulled Miley's hand closer so she could examine the ring closely. "Unusual design," she remarked, "but rather fetching."

Miley proudly said, "This ring is over a hundred years old, dating back to the Civil War. I was honored to be given it as an engagement ring, as it had been in Lilly's family for all that time, handed down from mother to daughter."

Vickie looked at Lilly again and gave her another brilliant smile. "How sweet of you, dear, letting Miley use that ring as her engagement ring," she said as she patted Lilly's right hand. "Where's the lucky young man?" she said as she looked at Miley again. "Still in California?"

Lilly raised her hand slightly and said, "No, I'm right here." She smiled at Vickie and braced for a reaction, but Vickie didn't seem to get what Lilly was saying, her face remaining totally expressionless. However, everyone else at the table had fallen silent, anxiously awaiting what sort of response Vickie would have when she figured it out.

Miley smiled as she took Lilly's hand and said, "_Lilly _is who proposed to me, Aunt Vickie." She squeezed Lilly's hand and said, "We're very much in love, and we plan on getting married in a year or two. Like I said, she means the world to me." She turned to look at Lilly momentarily as she said, "I've never had anyone love me like Lilly has, and we're planning on a long life together." She turned back to her aunt, hoping against hope that her Aunt Vickie would be okay with their relationship.

Ominously, Vickie instead turned a shade of white that neither Miley nor Lilly had never seen in a living person. She was visibly trying to process what she had just been told, and as the pieces fell into place, her gaze became icy. She leveled her stare at Miley. "I do hope you're joking," she said, and now all hint of sweetness had disappeared from her voice, replaced with a poorly disguised tone of menace.

Without consciously doing so, Lilly scooted in closer to Miley and leaned against her back to give her support, while Miley reached back behind her with her right hand to take Lilly's free right hand. "No Aunt Vickie, we're not joking. We've been friends for years now, and we've been together as a couple for nearly six months." She allowed a smile to come back onto her face as she said, "And we've never been happ--" She was cut off by Vickie slamming her fist down on the table in front of Miley, making both girls and several dishes jump.

"Miley Stewart, you are most certainly _not_ some..." Vickie seemed to have trouble getting the next word out, as if it was caught somewhere deep in her esophagus. "Some..."

"Lesbian? Teenager? Young woman in love?" Miley offered, her voice becoming icy in its own right as her smile disappeared. "What is it that I'm 'most certainly not,' Aunt Vickie?"

"Miley, I don't like where this is going," Lilly whispered to Miley, right before Vickie began speaking again. "Maybe it's not the best idea to--" she tried to say before she was cut off by Vickie's building anger.

"Homosexuality is _sick_, Miley! It's our world's corruption and immoral nature manifest among us!" Vickie yelled. "What in the name of God have you let your daughter become, Robbie?" Vickie said, not taking her eyes off Miley. "If your wife had known about this--"

Now it was Lilly's turn to interrupt Vickie, as she jumped up and leaned forward, trying to present a target for Vickie to redirect her glare off Miley, who was starting to wilt slightly despite her outrage. "Mrs. Stewart would be happy for us, because Miley and I are happy with each other, and we're good for each other! In fact, I _know_ her mom's happy with us, because Miley and I have both dreamed about her, and she's told us!" Lilly took a quick breath in a futile attempt to calm down, then she spit out, " And what business is it of _yours_, anyway?", pointing her finger at Vickie. "For the four years I've known Miley, I've never seen you around, I've never heard of you calling to check on her, I've never seen a letter or _any_ kind of contact between you and Miley, Jackson, or Robbie Ray. So don't try to act like you're all of a sudden concerned, because we can see right through it!"

As Vickie and Lilly stared at each other with looks that would light matches at ten feet, Miley saw that Vickie's sons had stepped inside the door with their wives and families, including two young boys and two young girls, and all of them looked very, very uncomfortable. Miley hurriedly said, "I think we all need to lower our voices, before any of the kids get scared," looking squarely at Vickie. In a calmer voice, Miley continued, "Aunt Vickie, Lilly makes me happy. Our parents are okay with that, our brothers are okay with that, and Mamaw is okay with that. Without trying to be rude, what you think about us being together really doesn't matter!"

Vickie leaned in closely and whispered, "I don't know what devil has gotten into you, Miley May Stewart, but God will not tolerate this... this filth!" She turned to look at Lilly. "And you, you little temptress, you had better leave little Miley--"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Miley screamed as she leaped up out of her chair, making _everyone_ in the house jump. For the first time Jackson could ever remember, his Aunt Vickie looked worried as Miley stepped forward until they were inches apart. Miley was as tall as Vickie, and though she gave up close to eighty pounds to her aunt, the look of fury on her face was unnerving as she spoke in a low voice. "I _love_ Lilly, and I _am _going to be her wife one day," she said through gritted teeth. "She is a sweet, caring, kind, intelligent, amazing person. She is here as _my guest_, and I will _not_ have you talk to her that way."

Ruthie stood and put her arms between Miley and Vickie, gently putting some space in between the two hottest tempers in the house. Once that was accomplished, she turned to her eldest daughter. "Victoria, I expect you to apologize to Lilly and Miley," she said, her voice hard as steel.

"Mother, you can't be serious!" Vickie said incredulously. "Are you actually to tolerate this... this perversion in your house? This is Tennessee, not California!"

"Yes, I _am_ going to 'tolerate' it," Ruthie said, "and it don't matter if we're in Tennessee, California, or Pogo Pogo!" She took a moment to visibly compose herself, as she was near tears at her oldest daughter's behavior. "I've heard and I've seen how good Lilly and Miley are to each other and how much they care about each other. I think both of them are fine young women, and when they do get married, I will most certainly be there to see it." She paused. "And I believe I said that you owe them an apology. I'm not going to ask again."

Vickie looked at her mother for long seconds, then she finally said to her, "That sort of language was not appropriate for me to use in your house, mother, and I apologize."

Lilly said, "I think you're supposed to apologize to us," with Miley nodding in silent assent.

Vickie stared daggers at Lilly, then she said, "I have nothing to say to you." She turned to look at Miley. "Or you. I thought you were my niece, but now I'm not sure who or what you are."

Lilly could tell from the way Miley's jaw began to quiver that tears were not far off. She put her arm around Miley, gently turning her away from Vickie. "C'mon Miles, let's go outside. This is Christmas time, and I'm not going to have anyone ruin it for you, whether she's your aunt or not." She turned to Ruthie and said, "Thank you, Ruthie, but I think it's best if we went outside for a bit, until some people here can act like grown-ups," jerking her chin back toward Vickie.

Ruthie gave Lilly a sad smile that was quickly replaced by a neutral expression, then she gave them both a big hug, wrapping her arms around both young women at the same time. "Don't go too far, because I don't think this'll take too long for me to get settled," she said.

Lilly smiled weakly but cut the hug short by saying, "We need to get outside, please." She and Miley walked down the hallway and grabbed their jackets. At this point, Miley had some tears running down her cheeks, but her expression was carefully neutral as they walked out the back door. "Miley, what are you thinking?" Lilly said. "You're awfully quiet."

Miley turned to look at Lilly and said, "I'm thinking that you and I need a ride up into the mountains."

Lilly smiled and said, "On a horse?" When Miley nodded, Lilly jumped up and down in place a few times. "Yay!" she said, hugging Miley and then giving her a kiss. Miley returned the kiss warmly, hugging Lilly as they stood on the back porch. After the kiss was over, Miley's eyes still shone wetly but the tears had stopped flowing. Lilly reached up and gently wiped them away with her fingers, then they began walking to the barn.

"Looks like Aunt Vickie hasn't changed," said Luanne quietly as she watched Miley and Lilly kiss outside the house. She was sitting on a ridge across the road from Ruthie's house, about a quarter of a mile away. Her binoculars were quite good, and she could clearly see the expressions and the tears on each girl's faces as they walked to the barn. She kept her vigil and was rewarded ten minutes later when Miley and Lilly came out on a soft brown horse, Miley in front and Lilly holding on behind her. They had a large saddle with saddlebags on each side, and Luanne took particular note of the rifle in the holster on one side of the saddle. "Dammit," she muttered under her breath. Miley was a good shot when they were growing up, and Luanne had no intention of testing her aim now. "Well, better to fight on the battleground of my choice anyway," she said to herself, smiling her humorless smile. "Soon enough, cousin. Soon enough."

She checked her watch, mentally calculating when Todd would be back. He had been quite upset earlier today when Luanne had told him her very detailed (and very untrue) story about how cruel Lilly had been to "her" and about how "she" wanted nothing more than to escape from Lilly's emotionally and physically abusive clutches but was too scared to leave her. _If I'm lucky, I might get him to really hurt that meddling brat, right before I break her heart in front of Miley's family. _Luanne smiled thinly as she thought about how it would crush Miley to see her precious Lilly devastated and embarrassed in front of her entire family. With any luck, the two of them would never recover, and Miley would get a taste of what hell Luanne had been through.

"Stop it!" Luanne hissed to herself as some of the memories rushed forward, unbidden and unwanted. "I'm not that little girl anymore," she said angrily to herself in an attempt to beat back the past. Determined not to cry, she was still surprised when she felt the hot tears running down her cheeks. Why hadn't someone tried to save _her_? Surely _somebody_ had to have known about the bruises she had tried to keep covered. Her father's problem with alcohol following Luanne's mother's death during childbirth wasn't exactly a secret, after all. How was it possible that no one ever connected his anger at losing his wife, the binges of drinking, and a scared little girl who was more afraid of losing her one remaining parent than of the beatings?

Furious, she wiped forcefully at her eyes. They were betraying her too, by refusing to stop crying. Well, she had quickly found a way to make the tears stop, at least temporarily. Hurting others and getting them in trouble served to momentarily quell the anguish in Luanne's heart. As she got older and the other kids learned to stay away from her, she found that hurting herself also working well at stopping the tears temporarily. By then she was older and her father had remarried, but that only shifted the abuse from physical to emotional. Her new stepmother was only nineteen when she and Luanne's father had married, and suddenly there was no place for Luanne in her father's emotions any more. As sad as it was, the beatings had become one of the few consistent parts of Luanne's childhood, and when that stopped, she felt lost rather than freed. Now her father gave her no attention of any kind.

The one good thing she could say about her father was that he had never sexually abused or molested her. Somehow, he had clung to some decency even during his most vicious rages, and that one simple fact gave Luanne one of the few positive thoughts she had about any of her family.

Miley had been another of Luanne's bright spots from her childhood, at least for a while. No matter how mean Luanne was, Miley was always quick to forgive her. And truthfully, Luanne spared Miley from the worst of her tricks. Oh, she was still mean to her cousin, but for some reason Luanne just couldn't bring herself to do anything really cruel to Miley. Maybe it was the fact that they shared the same birthday, born just minutes apart. Maybe it was the fact that their fathers were twins, or maybe it was that when Luanne was around Miley and her mother, Luanne felt... What was it she felt around Miley? It had been so long, Luanne wasn't even sure, but having Miley around made her feel... loved.

Even now, it was hard for her to form the word, even in her mind. But it was true. When she spent time with Miley and her parents, Luanne often found herself imagining that they were her parents, too. There was no dark home full of anger and pain, no cramped closets where she would hide praying that he would be too drunk to find her that night. She could stay in this family where people laughed, where songs were something to sing out of happiness and joy, not as cold comfort while she tried to clean up the wreckage following the previous night's drunken rage. But those days had ended abruptly. When Miley's family moved to Nashville, Luanne's spark of hope, her only taste of love, sputtered and died. But now she was in position to repay her dear, dear cousin for abandoning her. And while she was at it, she'd settle some other scores as well.

As the sun continued its steady climb into the sky, Miley and Lilly were steadily making their way up the mountain, more than just distance separating them from Luanne and her dark memories. While Lilly's butt wasn't too happy about the bouncing, she loved the sensation of holding Miley tightly, snuggling up against her for both support and warmth. The sun contributed some heat, but the temperature had still dropped considerably since yesterday. "How much longer until we get to this place you're wanting to show me, Miley?" she asked as she closed her eyes and gently lay her head against the back of Miley's neck, breathing in the orange scent of Miley's hair and the soft creamy smell of her skin.

"We're just about there, hon," Miley answered. They had been riding for over an hour, but they had taken a break after forty minutes or so to let them stretch their legs and give their horse a small rest. "This place is one of the coolest I've ever seen. We'll eat our snacks there."

As if on cue, Lilly's stomach grumbled, eliciting a giggle from Miley. "Sorry," Lilly said. "Didn't get to finish breakfast after all that with your aunt." She felt Miley stiffen slightly, and she knew without looking that Miley had slid her neutral expression over her face. "Miles, it's me, remember? You can talk about it, you know."

Miley guided the horse around a bend in the trail, then she leaned forward as they started up a hill, Lilly leaning with her automatically. "I'm still just... shocked, I guess," Miley said.

"Why?" Lilly asked, sincerely. "You said it yourself earlier, that we'd been lucky for most of the people we know to accept us, but sometime our luck had to run out." She looked around at the woods surrounding them. Most of the leaves had already fallen, their crunching under the horse's hooves testament to autumn, but there were quite a few evergreens doing their best to add some greenery to the impressive forest around them. "This is amazing, Miley," Lilly said softly. "All these trees..."

"The woods can be beautiful, but you always have to respect them," Miley said, and by the change in her voice Lilly knew she was smiling again, her natural happiness overcoming her irritation at her aunt's behavior. "Everything from bears to panthers up here, so you make sure you're prepared when you go deep into the woods."

"Is that why you got the gun?" Lilly asked, glancing down at the rifle slung on one side of the saddle.

"Yeah," Miley said. "Also got a first aid kit, camping gear, small tent and light survival stuff, in that big pack on the other side."

"Why would we need that stuff?" Lilly asked. "I mean, if anything happened, you could just call for help and let them track us off our cell phones."

Miley said, "No signal out here, Lilly. Not only are you out of range of every service out there, but the mountains would block just about any signal anyway."

Lilly was silent for a minute. "Hadn't thought about that," she admitted. She looked at the growing clouds above them, currently light gray. "I bet it's tough to get in and out of here when it snows, huh?"

Miley nodded her head. "Last time it came a really hard snow I was just a baby, but Daddy said it took two weeks for them to get the roads out of the valley open and the power back on."

"TWO WEEKS?" Lilly cried rather loudly. "How did people _live_? I mean, the average house only has, what, three or four days worth of food at any one time?"

Miley smiled as she pictured the look of disbelief of Lilly's face. "Honey, people around here have been doing things the old-fashioned way for a long, long time. There's not a family around here that doesn't have canned food, stored water, lamps, fireplaces, all that stuff. Even with all that time the valley was cut off from the rest of the world, everyone here was just fine."

Lilly's eyesight was caught by a rather unlikely sight: a flagpole flying an American flag, mounted in a flat area on the side of the ridge they were on, smack in the middle of nowhere. The horse stopped, and Miley said, "We're here, Lilly."

With relief, Lilly slid off the horse, stretching her legs as she walked around. She saw that a small fire pit had been built here, with large rocks and dirt separating it from the surrounding woods. From the ashes and old remnants of logs, it looked like it still saw some use, and the surrounding area had been cleared of leaves not too long ago.

Miley walked up behind Lilly and wrapped her arms around her, giving her a hug. "Been waiting to do that," she said, the pleasure in her voice quite audible. "You got to hug me the whole way, and I just now get to hug you."

Lilly turned around and said, "Then let's a fire going, and I'll let you kiss me too," smiling warmly at her lover. Out here, they were far away from the earlier confrontation at Ruthie's house. No one was around except for them and their horse, with no distractions other than the cool weather. Quickly they gathered sticks and limbs that were already on the ground, stacking them in the middle of the fire pit Several handfuls of dead leaves made excellent kindling once they were stuffed under the branches, and in a few minutes the warmth of a fire was chasing the chill from the girls sitting there.

Miley opened the bag she had carried over to the fire after she had tied the horse to a tree and given it some water. Reaching into the bag, she asked Lilly, "Did you get those long sticks I asked you to look for?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure--" Lilly stopped when she saw the small bag of giant marshmallows that Miley pulled out of the satchel. "Rock on, Miles!" she called out with glee. Miley handed her a marshmallow then speared one on her own stick. As they roasted their marshmallows, Lilly and Miley softly kissed for several minutes, stopping only when their marshmallows caught on fire. After discarding the charred remains, they reloaded their sticks and resumed kissing, making sure to pay some attention to their snacks.

As they broke for air and to munch marshmallows and drink some water, Miley said, "This flagpole is special, Lilly."

Lilly gave Miley a look of disbelief and replied, "Uh, Miley, it's a flagpole stuck into the side of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. I'd _expect_ there'd be a story behind it."

Miley stuck her tongue out at Lilly, almost getting it grabbed when Lilly reached out for it quickly. She retracted her tongue, laughing, and checked her latest marshmallow. "This flagpole dates back to the Civil War. While Tennessee had parts that were on the side of the Confederacy, most of East Tennessee, including Misty Valley, were on the side of the Union. But people that lived around here had to be careful, because the Rebels in North Carolina came across the mountain into the Valley all the time. They had these people called the Home Guard that went to the houses around here and confiscated anything they could for the Confederate army, especially guns, powder, that kind of stuff." Miley ate her marshmallow, then swallowed and continued.

Lilly reached over and fed her marshmallow to Miley, smiling as Miley's lips pulled the sticky treat from her fingers. Lilly held her hand in place long enough for Miley to lick the remnants of the marshmallow from her fingertips; as Miley finished, the girls shared a look of desire that was plain to both of them. However, they'd have to wait until they got back, as it was far too cold to fool around out here. As they tamped down their feelings, Miley resumed her story.

"Anyway, one day some of the people in the Valley decided to put up a flagpole, to show their support for the Union during the war."

"I bet that didn't go over well," Lilly said, watching the flames flicker atop the fire.

Miley looked at her girlfriend and smiled. "Well, when the next group of Guards came across the mountain and saw the Union flag flying, some of them were pretty hot. They were getting ropes to tear the pole down when one of the younger officers told them to stop. He told them that just because they were fighting on the other side of the war didn't give them the right to disrespect the flag that they had cheered for and their families had fought and died for the past eighty years. Once everyone heard his speech, they agreed to leave the flag alone."

Lilly thoughtfully said, "That's kind of neat. I mean, they still had some respect for each other, even with them supporting different sides."

Miley smiled and said, "Around here, in this little valley, things were different. No one in this part of Tennessee had slaves. There weren't any rich, because everyone was poor. Every family had to make their own way, whether it was farming, hunting, trapping, blacksmith...ery or whatever the right word for it is." Lilly laughed at Miley's made-up word and got a playful swat on the knee for it. As Lilly stopped laughing, Miley said, "Anyway, the people here repaid the Guards' courtesy with the flag. While they didn't know it, when those Guards were debatin' whether or not to tear the flagpole down, about a dozen men and boys were on top of these ridges right around this hill, all with their guns aimed at the Guards. If they'd torn that flag down, probably none of the Guards would've ridden out of the Valley."

Lilly was quietly impressed. She tossed her stick into the fire, as she had satisfied her marshmallow quota. She shifted to hold Miley more closely as Miley used her stick to poke the fire to stir up a bit more warmth. "That's an amazing story, Miley," she said as she held Miley tightly. Lilly buried her face in Miley's thick dark brown hair. "We're going to have the scent of a fire on us for a while, I think."

Miley leaned back. "Mmmm, good thing I find that incredibly sexy," she said with her sultry voice.

"Oh you do, huh?" Lilly asked playfully. She hadn't known that about her fiancée, and she planned to remember that little tidbit for future reference.

"Yes," Miley purred. "So help me put out this fire so we can get started back down the knobs and get to Mamaw's."

Lilly hesitantly released Miley from her grasp, but not before claiming another kiss. "I hope your Aunt Dolly is there when we get back."

Miley nodded as she used the small spade she had left here years ago by the ring of rocks to toss dirt on the fire, smothering it fully. "Yeah, it'll be nice to have another friendly face."

After the girls watched the remains of the fire for several minutes to ensure it didn't flare back into life, they gathered their trash and climbed back onto the horse. Lilly groaned, "Well, might as well get this over with. I think my butt's going to be one big bruise tomorrow."

Miley looked back over her shoulder as they began the trip down the mountain. "I'll give you a nice massage tonight. That sound better?"

Lilly pondered exactly how Miley would go about such a massage. All the possibilities that came to mind were quite pleasant, so she said, "Deal!" She held Miley a bit tighter as they made their way on down the faint trail. "I guess you'd have to know where you were going to find your way back up here, huh?"

Miley nodded her head. "It's really hard in the winter with all the dead leaves on the ground, but I came up so much with Daddy and Jackson that I can still see the outline of the trail even now. Sometime when we're back here in the spring or summer, I'll take you out to where Jimbo Hess had his still when I was a little girl. I never had the nerve to get close to it while he was still alive. He died right before we moved to Nashville, so there might not be anything of it left."

Lilly wrapped her mind around what Miley was saying. "So you're telling me that you knew someone who had a working moonshine still up here? I mean, within the last ten or twenty years? I thought stills were from the Twenties or Thirties!"

Miley softly laughed. "Like I said, girlfriend, people around here like to preserve the past as much as they can. Oh, you'll find 'em driving SUVs, watching satellite television and talkin' on cell phones, but they still keep the oil lamps, the smokehouses and the farms. Just in case."

The trip down the mountain went much swifter than the girls' trip up, and before long they were exiting the woods and gently loping toward the barn. Miley said, "Hang on a little tighter to my waist, Lilly, and squeeze with your knees just a bit." As Lilly complied, Miley nudged the horse to a faster speed, first cantering, then moving into a light gallop.

"Oh my gosh Mileyyyyy!!!" Lilly yelled, the excitement in her voice firmly placing a grin on Miley's face. "This is so cool!" The galloping of the horse underneath them set Lilly's heart racing, and she held onto Miley for all she was worth, grinning all the way back to the barn. As they slowed and finally walked the horse into the barn, Miley dismounted first, then she helped Lilly slide off.

"Help me with the gear, hon?" Miley asked, but truthfully she didn't need to. Lilly had already planned on helping, but Miley always tried to be courteous and not take Lilly for granted. That was another reason Lilly loved Miley so much. She always tried to be considerate of others, with Lilly firmly coming first. A year or two ago, Miley could be oblivious to others' wants when there was conflict with what she wanted, but the past six months had helped her to grow up. Now she tried very hard to be more aware of what Lilly (and then others) wanted to do. She still slipped up on occasion, but she had worked very, very hard on being less focused on herself, and it was paying off.

Lilly helped Miley unload the bags from the horse, then she watched Miley carefully unbuckle the saddle and take it off the horse. Miley led the horse back to its stall and brushed it quickly but gently, while Lilly helped get some food and water for the horse. Once the horse was taken care of, Miley showed Lilly to the bathroom, then she stored the rifle and travel gear back in the locked room in the stable. Miley unloaded the rifle and then locked it back in the gun safe inside the storage room. When Lilly came back from the bathroom, Miley made a stop of her own. Now that things were taken care of here, the two of them walked back over to the house.

"Getting colder already," Lilly said, looking up to the winter sky.

Miley stole a glance at Lilly, and she didn't like the shivering she could see. "C'mere, Lilly," she said, hugging Lilly tightly. "Did you bring a winter coat?"

Lilly gave Miley a long look. "Miles, I don't _own_ a winter coat. We live in Southern California, remember?"

Miley looked sheepish at her thoughtlessness. She hadn't even thought about that. "Okay, we need to get you some winter stuff, and fast." She looked at the sky, darkening slowly but steadily. They stepped up onto the front porch and then inside the warm house. "Let me get our purses," Miley said as she hurried back to their bedroom.

As Miley walked down the hall, Lilly waved to everyone sitting in the living room, which included Jackson, Robbie Ray, Vickie, one of Vickie's sons, and two little boys playing in front of the television. Lilly sized up the mood in the living room. Not surprisingly, there wasn't much talking going on at the moment. However, that was no reason for her to be rude. She steeled herself and walked past Vickie, stopping in front of the man sitting next to Vickie. "Hi," she said, extending her hand. "I'm Lilly."

The young man smiled and stood, then he shook Lilly's hand. "Hi Lilly, I'm David, Miley's cousin. Robbie Ray was telling us about you and Miley earlier. I suppose congratulations are in order, huh?"

Lilly smiled but didn't so much as glance at Vickie, who she knew must be seething right now. "Thank you!" she said to David. "We're very happy, and I'm honored to be a guest here of the family."

"Gonna be your family 'fore long, Lilly," Robbie Ray said. "You two enjoy your ride in the hills?"

Lilly nodded her head, her smile evident. "Oh my gosh, Mr. Stewart, that was beautiful up in the mountains! Miley took me up to that flagpole, and we roasted marshmallows for a little picnic." As Lilly smiled, faces started to smile in return, with Miley's Aunt Vickie being the exception. Determined to not be drawn into another argument with her fiancée's aunt, Lilly turned to the boys playing in the floor. She guessed they were around five or six, one dark-haired and the other blonde. Lilly squatted down and said to them, "Hi, I'm Lilly, Miley's friend. What are your names?"

"Andy," one boy said, while the other said, "Heath."

Lilly fought to keep a smile off her face. Earlier Miley had tried to explain just how fanatical people could be about their University of Tennessee sports around here, with the boys being fine examples—each was named after a former UT quarterback. "Those are really nice names," she said to the two boys. "How old are you two?"

Heath said, "Five," while Andy said, "Four." They turned their attention back to playing with the Hot Wheels, as they considered the conversation over now that they had given the essential information of names and ages.

Lilly stood back up as Miley walked back into the room. She had changed clothes into a long dark red dress with a black leather jacket and black shoes. "Want to get changed, hon?" Miley said to Lilly. "We've got some time before the storm's supposed to unload on us."

"That'd be awesome, Miles," Lilly said. "I'll hurry," she said as she passed by Miley, lightly squeezing Miley's hand as she walked past her girlfriend.

Miley turned to the room of people and said with a smile, "Lilly got out here without a winter coat or any winter clothes. And I was too big a dummy to even think about that, so now we've got to run into Knoxville to get her some clothes before the snow hits." She looked around and asked, "Anyone need us to get anything while we're out?" _Besides a new attitude for you_, Miley thought as she locked gazes with her aunt Vickie.

Ruthie walked over to Miley and said to her, "Well, if Lilly eats all the time like she did this morning, some more groceries might be in order." The smile on her face made Miley laugh, defusing some of the lingering tension.

"She eats like that all the time, Mamaw," Jackson added as he watched some program on television. "Not sure how she stays looking as good as she does."

Miley smiled both outwardly and inwardly at that comment. _My woman __does__ look amazing_, she thought proudly. _And while it's still a bit odd to hear myself thinking that way, I am totally okay with that_. "She exercises all the time, Jackson, you know that." Miley knew that Lilly had even brought her skateboard and gear with her, but she doubted there'd be much opportunity for her to board out here. About the only hard ground was on the road, and the undulation of the mountain roads would make it dangerous to try and skate on them.

Lilly walked back into the room just then, having swapped her riding clothes for a black miniskirt dress with red tights over her legs and black leather low-cut boots. "Okay Miles, I'm ready if you are," she said as she smiled and put her arm around Miley. _Oops_, she thought, _I didn't really plan on doing that, but no way am I jerking my arm back. This is the person I'm meant to be with, the woman I __want_ _to be with, and some ugly looks from Miley's aunt isn't going to change that or my feelings_.

"I'm ready for anything as long as you're with me, girlfriend," Miley replied with a smile. "And Mamaw, we'll stop on the way back and get some more things." Ruthie quickly handed Miley a list of groceries. "Did you have this already written out?" Miley asked, a bit surprised.

Ruthie nodded. "Always better to plan ahead," she said. "Wrote that up while you girls were on your little ride." She reached out to Lilly and gave her a strong hug. "Be careful, dear," she said.

"We will, Ruthie," Lilly said, returning the hug.

Miley likewise gave Ruthie a hug, saying, "Be back soon, Mamaw. And we'll drive carefully, I promise."

Ruthie said, "Good. Don't go too fast, but do be mindful of the weather."

Miley nodded. "Okay, bye Daddy, Jackson, everyone! See you in a bit."

Lilly gave Robbie Ray and Jackson each a hug, then did the same for Andy and Heath. She shook David's hand, then she surprised everyone in the room by extending a hand to Vickie. "I'm sorry we got off to a bad start," Lilly said, "but I really want everyone here to have a good Christmas." When Vickie refused to meet her smile or take her hand, Lilly still kept her smile on her face, but Miley could tell she was disappointed by how her body stance changed slightly. "I hope you'll come to see that what Miley and I have is beautiful and special," Lilly said in a softer voice. "It took us a long time to accept that ourselves, but now the two of us are happier than we've ever been. Please think about that." Lilly slowly turned and walked back over to Miley. She took Miley's hand in hers and said, "Okay, let's go get some winter clothes. You'll, uh, have to help me pick them out," she said, looking down at the floor.

Miley laughed her deep laugh and put her arm around Lilly as they walked to the door. "Deal," she said. When I'm done with you, you'll be ready to wrestle a snowman," she said as they closed the door behind them.

**Author's Afterword:** To forestall any questions about dreamworld physics, if Miley and Lilly are dreaming together, they see each other as their current (or "true") age and appearance. If they're dreaming the same dream but from different times or if Miley is the only one dreaming, Miley sees Lilly as she appears in the time frame of the dream, while Lilly sees Miley as the same age Lilly is in the dream (essentially, Lilly sees no change in Miley's physical appearance, just in her behavior). Sorry if I just confused any of you further by trying to explain dream physics, but I already see a question coming about perceived inconsistencies in the ages during the dreams. There is a reason for the dreams, I assure you, and there will be more to come regarding them in the future. And if there still remain inconsistencies, well heck, it's a dream. Odd things can happen.

I hope everyone is still enjoying the story, because I'm still having great fun writing it. We're getting down to the last few chapters, with about another three or so to go. We'll see if the story has any more surprises for me; if so, that number might change. Once this one is done, I had been thinking about the time frame for the next story, if there's still interest. I think we've already had one vote for a future story when Miley and Lilly have a child of their own, and that would be kind of neat to write. Other obvious choices would be the wedding or even a college story. I'll have to think about that once this story is complete, but feel free to let me know if you have a particular time frame you'd like to see for the next story. See you as soon as I can get the next chapter finished!

-- Jo --


	15. Chapter 15: The Last Domino

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the nice reviews and comments! All reviews are good, because good ones inspire a writer further while bad ones provide a viewpoint to analyze work. For those who asked, the story about the flagpole is indeed a true story. It's been told around the area I based Misty Valley on for over a hundred years, and it was confirmed in the late 1930s when a reunion brought together two survivors, one who was one of the Home Guard officers and one who was one of the boys on the mountain waiting to shoot them. They had never met until then, and most people had assumed the stories about the flagpole had been exaggerated or outright made up. The former Guardsman confirmed that the event with the flagpole had certainly happened, but he had never known that his unit was that close to being killed until he was told at the reunion by the other survivor. I'd also like to tell one of the reviewers, **Paula de Roma**, thank you for your nice review, and I'm honored that one of my stories inspired you to write your own. I'm looking forward to reading them! As for Miley's and Lilly's baby's appearance, I will confirm that she _does_ resemble both of them, and there is a reason for that. However, for right now I'm not revealing the reason, but I like all the theories put forth so far. I promise to reveal the reason in a later story. Now it's time for more Liley love! For my standard disclaimers, please see Chapter 1.

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 15: The Last Domino

_I'm the voice inside your head_

_You refuse to hear_

_I'm the face that you have to face_

_Mirrored in your stare_

_I'm what's left, I'm what's right_

_I'm the enemy_

_I'm the hand that'll take you down_

_Bring you to your knees_

_So who are you?_

--Foo Fighters; "The Pretender"

"Thank you for that wonderful dinner, Miley," Lilly said as they walked back to their rental car, a silver Chrysler Sebring. She and Miley had their arms around each other, holding each other tightly against the chilly air as they made their way across the parking lot of the Japanese restaurant Wasabi. "You know how picky I am when it comes to Japanese food, but that place was amazing!" Lilly said as Miley unlocked her door and held it open for her. Before she got into the car, Lilly turned and gently grabbed Miley's head with both hands and pulled her close for a lingering kiss. After several lovely seconds, Lilly released Miley and gently pulled away. "So where to now, lover?"

Miley licked her lips as she thought. "Well, we've got you a light coat, some ski gloves, scarves..."

"Don't forget the great sale at Victoria's Secret," Lilly added helpfully. "I picked out a special outfit to wear on Christmas Eve and Christmas night for you," she said with a sly grin.

Miley lifted her left eyebrow as she thought about what kind of outfit Lilly had bought. She smiled as she decided that while it would look nice on her girlfriend, it would probably look even nicer on the floor.

"What are you thinking about, naughty girl?" Lilly asked, a smile creeping across her own face as she wrapped her arms around Miley's waist and pulled her girlfriend closer.

Miley snapped out of her daydream and focused on Lilly as she said, "Just thinking about how beautiful you look already and how sexy you're going to look in your surprise outfit. Plus, I might have bought something to surprise you with, too." Miley looked thoughtful again, but this time there was no smirk on her face. "I just keep thinking we're forgetting something besides a big winter coat," she said. Suddenly she snapped her fingers. "Thermal socks and thermal underwear! And waterproof boots! That's the secret to not freezing your butt off in the snow." She motioned for Lilly to go ahead and sit down, which her girlfriend grudgingly did so Miley could close the door. As Miley walked around, Lilly unlocked her door for her. Miley plopped down into the car and started it up. "You mind to call Daddy and ask him where a good place to get that stuff would be, honey?" Miley asked Lilly.

Lilly smiled as Miley backed out of the parking place and began making her way down the small hill on top of which Wasabi sat. Dialing quickly, she was rewarded by getting Ruthie on the phone. "Hi Ruthie, this is Lilly!" she said cheerily. "Can I ask you or Mr. Stewart a question?" Apparently getting an affirmative answer, Lilly then asked, "Okay, where's the best place to get me some boots, socks and thermal underwear?" After a longer pause, Lilly said, "Okay, thanks Ruthie! We'll be home soon." After she hung up, Lilly turned to Miley and said, "Your Mamaw said there was a place on down Kingston Pike that was a big sporting goods store, and she told me how to get there. It sounds like it'll be pretty easy to get there." She reached over and took Miley's hand, holding it as they drove through the Knoxville traffic.

Driving through Knoxville right before Christmas could be a real challenge, but Miley's nervousness was kept at bay by Lilly's gentle touch. Feeling her lover's warm caress put Miley into a more peaceful state of mind, helping her to stay calm and collected even with the holiday traffic. "I'm glad we can be ourselves here, honey," Lilly said as they drove.

Lilly had been pleasantly surprised by the lack of hostility directed at her and Miley. She had expected at the very least some ugly remarks and rude stares, and she had worried that someone might even take worse offense at their displaying their affection for each other. However, the worst she had seen had been a few curious looks, with several people of younger and older ages smiling politely at them. A woman from a small group of younger families having a birthday party back at the restaurant had even commented that the two of them made a lovely couple, putting both smiles and slight blushes on the faces of both Miley and Lilly.

Miley squeezed Lilly's hand. "I'm glad too, Lilly, because we have to keep so much hidden from the world already. It's nice to not have to hide any other parts of ourselves."

"Exactly," Lilly said, glad that Miley had understand the meaning of her words so perfectly. "I mean, I love Lola and Hannah, but it's kind of a necessity that we keep that secret."

Miley nodded. In the past, she had dreamed about them revealing their secret identities for one reason or another. While it would be nice to not have to hide, it would also mean the end of being treated like anyone else. She knew that several people would completely change how they acted toward her, and while some of that change might be positive, it would come at the price of honesty in the actions of others. She and Lilly would always have to on their guard even more about being used or manipulated. And then there would be the issue of their privacy. Days like today, where two young girls in love were able to shop, eat, hang out and have fun... Well, those days would be gone instantly. It would be like the crowd at the Venetian back in the summer, every single day. Dealing with that kind of attention had taken its toll on Lilly after just one day; how would she deal with day after day of that crushing glare of the media?

Miley shuddered as she thought about the logical outcomes of such a situation. The most obvious outcome would be for Lilly to leave her. Miley found it difficult to even think about such an event, but she had to mention it to herself as a possibility if their secret ever became public. However, she truly believed Lilly's promise to never leave her, so that dreadful possibility was eliminated. The next possibility was that Lilly would endure the harsh spotlight, and probably learn to do well in it. This was the best possible outcome, and it was the one Miley would hope and pray for should anything compromise their secret lives. However, the third possibility was just as unsettling as the first. In the last possible outcome, Lilly would stay with Miley but be unable to deal with the constant publicity. In that case, Lilly would either withdraw from the public eye... or be broken by it. Either case would be devastating to Miley, and that possibility was the strongest motivator for her to do everything possible to safeguard their secret identities.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Lilly said in a valley girl voice, getting Miley to laugh. "I love it when you laugh," she said as she gazed at Miley's profile, totally enraptured by her partner's beauty. "In fact, I think I just kinda love _you_."

"Good thing," Miley said, laughing again slightly. "'Cause that works out just right, seein' as how I'm crazy about you." Heavy traffic prevented her from looking at Lilly, but Miley squeezed her hand to physically convey how much she loved Lilly. As they turned into the parking lot of the shopping center and parked, Miley said, "Okay, here we are." She checked the clock in the car. "Four," she said. "We can get your clothes and still have time to stop at the grocery store for Mamaw."

Lilly mock saluted, her face serious. "Yes sir," she said.

Miley gently smacked her leg. "Stop it, silly," she said.

Lilly's face became playful as she said, "Make me."

Without hesitation Miley shot across the console and kissed Lilly, tangling her left hand into Lilly's silky blonde hair as Lilly grabbed Miley's head with both of her hands, kissing her deeply until both girls were satisfied. "Love you," Miley said, smiling uncontrollably as she looked into Lilly's sparkling blue eyes.

Lilly smiled in return, gently rubbing Miley's left cheek with her right hand. "Love you too," Lilly answered. "Forever."

"Forever," echoed Miley. She leaned back into her seat and opened the door. As she stepped out, she saw that a group of four young men were watching her closely, smirks on their faces. They were older than Miley and Lilly, probably college students. Lilly also stepped out of the car, walking to the front of the vehicle where she and Miley met and took each other's hand. "Those guys over there are checking us out," she said quietly to Lilly, lightly jerking her head in their direction.

Lilly looked at them. She and Miley would have to walk right past them to get into the store, and she expected there'd be a comment of some kind directed at her and Miley. "Was it, like, a mean look, or was it a drooling horny boy look?" she asked Miley as they started walking across the parking lot, hands intertwined.

"More of the second one, I think," Miley said, grinning. As they approached the pack of young men, Miley and Lilly smiled cheerily at them.

One of them wearing a dark flannel shirt spoke up as the two drew near, saying, "Liked your little show, ladies. You know, in the car."

Lilly said, "Well, we liked it too, but it wasn't intended as a show, just a kiss between good friends."

A second student said, "You two must be _really_ good friends," getting laughs from the others at his remark.

Miley stopped and lightly said, "Best friends." She put her arm around Lilly protectively; as Lilly felt Miley's long arm wrap around her torso, she unconsciously melted into her partner's warm embrace.

"Can you be our friends?" This latest speaker looked to be the oldest of the group, and Miley looked at him closely. These guys weren't going to ruin her great mood, but it was time to stop their feeble attempts.

"Sorry boys, but you're not our type," Miley said, awaiting the next question eagerly. She only had to wait a few seconds before the first speaker obliged her.

"Who is your type?"

In tandem, Miley and Lilly pointed at each other and said, "Her!" Lilly laughed lightly and added, "Plus you fellas could get in trouble just for thinking about us. We're only sixteen." She and Miley both smiled as they hugged each other. "Finally, we're engaged, and we don't fool around on each other," Lilly said. "You guys are kinda cute and we appreciate the interest, but we're really happy with each other. You got _no _chance here." She shook her head as concluded, eliminating the last speck of hope for any of them.

Miley said, "Merry Christmas!" which Lilly repeated as they walked on past. As they got inside, Miley started laughing much harder; the two of them stopped and got a buggy until Miley could catch her breath. "Oh my gosh, that was too funny!" she said as Lilly also laughed at the scene outside.

"Yeah! I mean, did you see the surprise on their faces when I told 'em we were just sixteen?" Lilly asked, getting a vigorous nod from Miley. "That sure did the trick."

Miley ran her hand through Lilly's hair, taking her hand when she had made a pass through Lilly's golden locks. "Let's get the rest of your winter clothes, Lilly Bear. I want to get to the grocery store and get back to Mamaw's before the snow hits." She looked into Lilly's eyes as she said, "Because I can't think of anything that sounds better than cuddling up with you on the couch under a soft blanket while we watch it snow."

Lilly beamed at Miley's admission. "Is it really going to snow?" she asked. Miley nodded. "And how do you know this?" she asked her girlfriend.

"I can taste it in the air," Miley said. "It's funny because it's been so long, but I know it's coming tonight."

Lilly looked into Miley's soft blue eyes, smiling at what she saw reflected there. "I'm happy that I get to share the first time I see snow with you, Miles. I want to share all the first times I can with you."

Miley said, "Same here, hon. And thank you."

"For what?"

"For being here with me. For meeting my family."

Lilly took Miley's left hand with her right. "Miley, it's _our_ family now. But you're welcome. Thank you for inviting me." She started walking, gently tugging Miley and the cart into motion. "Now let's get me a nice coat and... um... What else did I need?"

Miley smiled and said, "I'll show you, Lilly. You just try to keep up, because you might have to try some of this stuff on. I know your body pretty well by now," she said with a smirk, "but I'm not sure about the fit of some of these coats."

"You coming in the dressing room with me?" Lilly asked with a mischievous smile on her face.

Miley said, "Control yourself, young lady! They have cameras covering the dressing rooms now, so people can't go in them and fool around."

"Aw." Lilly's face registered obvious disappointment as she slumped her shoulders forward.

Miley pinched Lilly's butt through her jeans, getting a brief squeal and turning heads momentarily. Miley covered her mouth with her hand, her face turning as red as Lilly's. "Sorry, didn't mean to do it that hard," she said softly.

Lilly didn't look too amused as she rubbed her right buttock, stinging from Miley's pinch. However, the stinging quickly faded, and so did Lilly's momentary upset. Lilly didn't say anything harsh to Miley, instead she just looked at Miley until Miley walked over to her, apology already written on her face.

"I'm really sorry, Lil," Miley said, her face serious.

"It's okay," Lilly replied, smiling as she hugged Miley. "I can handle the occasional pain as long as I get the pleasure, too," she said into Miley's ear.

Miley pulled away from Lilly. "Believe me Lilly, you'll get all you want of that," she said with her own seductive smile.

While Miley and Lilly were having fun shopping, Luanne was sitting in the bathtub in her motel room, the water as hot and the room as dark as she could get either one. Her legs were drawn tightly against her chest, and even though no light could get into the room, her eyes remained tightly closed. She hoped that something, anything would shut down the memories that were coming back, but nothing was working. _When did my life stop being happy? Or was it __ever__happy?_

She expected that her father would show up at Ruthie Stewart's house tonight. She had been to her old house, but she hadn't gone any further than watching from the road. There was no point in going inside, because there was nothing inside she wanted any part of. Not any more. If his new wife was willing to put up with the drinking and the hitting, that's her problem. _It's not my problem any more, _she thought bitterly

The shrill ring of her cell phone broke the silence. She jumped, splashing water onto the tile floor, cursing as she did so. She stood, reaching for the towel, right where she had placed it, and opened the door, not bothering to turn on a light in the hotel room as she crossed the floor. Even though she had recently undergone corrective eye surgery, she had worn glasses most of her life, and walking in the dark isn't that different from walking when everything is too blurry to see. She checked the phone. _Todd. What a surprise._ "God, you give them a taste, and suddenly it's all they want," she muttered to herself. But inside she smiled, just slightly. Sleeping with him _had_ felt pretty good. While Luanne told herself she held no feelings for Todd, it had been nice to have someone touch her because he wanted to be good to her, to make her happy. But Todd had never really wanted her, only Miley. He'd rejected Luanne just as surely as everyone else in her life had.

She sat down on the bed and started drying her hair with the towel. She always wound up back at the same place when pursuing this line of thought, counting the people who had betrayed her. It always came back to her mother. And there was never an answer to Luanne's most burning question: _Would you have loved me if you had lived, or would you have hated me too?_

Luanne couldn't believe that anyone would ever love her now. After all, her mother had died giving birth to her. Luanne had killed her own Mommy, and while she certainly hadn't done it on purpose, her mother was still dead. Without thinking about it, Luanne made a fist and hit herself in the head _hard_, hard enough to make stars flash around her field of vision. She had come into this world in the worst circumstances, and she expected tragedy and pain to follow her until she was dead herself.

But Miley... Sweet, good little Miley, she had always had everything a girl could want. While her mother was now dead as well, Miley had at least gotten to know her, to know that love from both her parents. She still had her father, who didn't beat her or come home drunk enough to fall asleep on the bathroom floor with his pants around his feet. Miley had her career and fame as Hannah Montana. Miley had money, which she didn't flaunt, but Luanne knew she had several millions stored away. And most insulting, Miley had someone who loved her. Really, really loved her. And while the fact that it was another girl made Luanne nauseous, it was _someone_.

When Luanne had met Lilly, the mutual dislike had been instant. Even though Lilly tried to be nice, Luanne knew she had hated her. And Luanne could see how Lilly mooned all over her cousin. She was always following Miley around, and they touched all the time, using any excuse or reason. After watching them for a while, Luanne could see the attraction underlying their touches and their words, but she remained quiet. And now, the two of them had come out as lesbians, and _still_ the family loved Miley! What would it take to turn them against her? Or worse, _could_ she turn them against Miley? At this point, Luanne didn't think it was possible. So she'd have to settle for taking away what Miley considered the most important thing in the world: her relationship with Lilly.

While Luanne had briefly entertained the idea of killing Lilly, she didn't like the possible outcomes for her if she carried out that plan. That damned military school in Wyoming was bad enough; jail for life would be a nightmare. Instead, she had decided to break Miley and Lilly up. And keeping both of them alive would make the agony more exquisite, as they'd never quite get over the heartbreak they had put each other through.

Now, if _Todd_ decided he wanted to hurt or kill Lilly, well, that would just be a bonus. And Luanne was confident she could get out of any criminal charges on that count. She had recorded Todd talking about "getting rid" of Lilly or "taking her out" on multiple occasions over the last few days, and each time she had made sure to tell him to not even think about doing anything harmful to poor Lilly. Of course, that only made him angrier, and eventually that anger would explode. Luanne smiled. Tomorrow night would be a lovely time for him to explode. That would fit her plans just perfectly. The snow that was predicted might make things a bit more difficult, as footprints would show up in the snow, but she was confident her plan would work. And maybe she'd have the opportunity to say hello to her father afterward.

Luanne stood and began getting dressed. She was meeting Todd for dinner, and tonight she'd push him in the proper direction. It wouldn't do for him to fly off the handle and start something on his own, as that would destroy her timetable. But she was confident she could manipulate him. After all, most people wanted to be manipulated deep down, they only pretended otherwise. Oh, they made all manner of protests and excuses, but it remained much easier to try to please someone else than it was to please yourself.

Her therapist had suggested that Luanne's actions stemmed from a subconscious desire to get her father's attention, but she knew that was wrong. Her actions simply came from the fact that when she hurt others, her own hurt and anger at herself subsided for a while. And hurt and anger were all Luanne had left. No one cared about her, least of all herself. Another therapist had theorized that being cruel to others was a way to keep a safe distance between herself and them, to keep anyone from getting close enough for her to be hurt again. But part of her still yearned for that closeness, no matter how hard she denied it. Would anyone ever love her? Not even romantically, just a simple friendly kind of love. Luanne lowered her head, glad she couldn't see herself cry in the dark. "I don't believe in love," she said bitterly, but her voice didn't sound very convincing. Even to herself.

It was getting dark as Miley and Lilly left the grocery store. They had driven closer to Ruthie's before stopping at a store, but now they had crossed the last item off her list and they were on their way back. As they walked to the car, Lilly waved her hand at what looked like tiny ashes floating down. Then she realized what those tiny specks were. "Miley!" she said. "Is this snow?"

Miley laughed. "Yep, that's snow. You get a gold star today!" Lilly kicked at Miley as they walked and nearly fell as a result, causing both girls to laugh harder. "Don't drop Mamaw's stuff, Lilly," Miley said between laughs.

Lilly righted herself and reached the trunk of the car. Miley popped the trunk open and the two of them settled the bags in the trunk. They took the fragile items and placed them in the backseat as they got back into the car. As they drove back toward Misty Valley the snow picked up, falling directly into the windshield as they drove, much to Lilly's delight. "That is _so cool_!" she said, leaning forward to get a better look at the falling flakes. When one would stick to the windshield off by itself, Lilly would examine it in the few seconds of its short life.

By the time they had reached the base of the mountain the snow was coming down harder. The roads were still warm enough to keep much snow from accumulating, but by the time Ruthie's house came into sight the roads were starting to turn white. Miley's nerves were shot from driving in the snow; the last few curves she had taken very slowly, as the tires were starting to slip just a bit. Thankfully, she had practiced driving in the mud, which was quite similar to driving on snowy roads, so she was able to negotiate the increasingly treacherous road safely. As Miley switched off the engine, she saw that Lilly was so spellbound by the waves of snow hitting the windshield that she probably hadn't even noticed the tires slipping on the last curve.

Miley reached over and gently shook Lilly, breaking her from her intense study of the snow. When Lilly turned and looked at Miley, she said, "Will you hand me my coat and hat, Miles, please?"

Miley reached into the rear of the car and retrieved Lilly's new coat and furry hat from the bags. Lilly said, "Thanks, hon," then she opened the door and stepped out of the car. She slid her coat on but left the hat off as she looked straight up into the sky, seeing nothing but falling snowflakes to the limits of her vision. "Oh, they're cold!" she squealed as the flakes fell on her face.

Miley watched Lilly's glee and was touched by it. It was childlike in its innocence, the way this young woman stared up into the falling snow, laughing and spinning around from the sensation so new she couldn't describe it. Miley quietly walked up behind Lilly and put her arms around her, but as she did, Lilly spun and hugged Miley tightly. "I love this!" Lilly shouted, her face aglow with a bright smile. "And I love you," she said more tenderly as she kissed Miley in the middle of the falling snow.

After they finished their kiss, they stood there silently, foreheads pressed against each other, just enjoying the feel of the cold air and the tickling of snowflakes on the back of their necks. After a minute, Miley said, "Let's get inside. If we get enough snow tonight, I'll take you sledding tomorrow. Lots of good hills around here."

"Okay," Lilly said. When Miley tugged her in the direction of the house, Lilly said, "What about the bags, Miles?"

Miley stepped on the first step of the porch and turned to Lilly. "That's what the men are for," she said with a sly grin.

"Ooooh, good idea hon," Lilly said. "So are we going to snuggle on the couch?"

"That's the plan," Miley said. "I don't see Vickie's car, so she must have gone back home for the night."

Lilly sounded relieved when she said, "Good. I hate saying that about your aunt, but she was pretty ugly to you today." She rubbed Miley's back through her jacket.

Miley opened the doors and held them open for Lilly; once Lilly had entered, Miley followed. As Miley closed the doors, she heard a familiar female voice call out, "Land sakes, I was gettin' worried about you two!"

Miley's smile was back in full force as she turned to see her Aunt Dolly, who was in the process of giving Lilly a massive hug. Miley walked over and hugged both of them, with Lilly between herself and her aunt.

"Umph, getting squished here!" Lilly said with a muffled voice. Miley backed off and released her girlfriend and her aunt from her embrace.

"Sorry hon," Miley said as she looked at Lilly. "You okay?"

Lilly smiled as she said, "Yeah, I'm good Miles." Lilly turned back to Dolly and said, "So, Aunt Dolly, have you heard our news yet?"

"Sure haven't," Dolly said. "These rats here wouldn't say a word to me, just that you two'd be happy to tell me when you got back." She sat down on the couch and Miley sat right beside, with Lilly sitting right against Miley, her arm around her girlfriend. As Dolly looked at how the two of them positioned themselves, she said, "Well, if I had to guess from your body language, I'd guess that you two finally figured out why you were so dang confused all the time about datin'."

Miley and Lilly both laughed at that, with Lilly leaning her head forward against Miley's shoulder. "Yeah," Miley said, "I guess you could say that." She looked at Dolly and asked, "You knew?"

Dolly shook her head. "No darlin', I didn't know then, I just knew you were awful confused about your feelings." She reached up and patted Lilly's right cheek with her left hand. "But this little 'un here, I could see right off how crazy she was for you, Miley."

Lilly flushed slightly but she said, "I was pretty obvious, huh?"

Dolly said, "To a woman who's been married enough, you sure were. But I could see how much you _liked_ Miley as a friend, and that added to how you felt about her. It also probably made you scared to talk to her, right?"

Lilly and Miley both nodded at that. Lilly said in a dry voice, "I was so afraid I'd lose her if I said anything and she didn't feel the same way."

"And I expect she felt the same way about riskin' losin' you," Dolly said gently. Miley leaned back against Lilly, enjoying her girlfriend's warm embrace. "I also have to say, I did sorta read a little about Hannah and Lola in the gossip magazines," she added with a grin. "So! No more bein' confused?" They both shook their heads, neatly synchronized. "Good!" Dolly said with a smile.

Miley closed her eyes, then she said, "But that's not all our good news, Aunt Dolly." Dolly had started to say something else, but she stopped. Miley opened her eyes and lifted her head back up, looking right into Dolly's eyes. "Sometime in the next year or two," Miley paused, "we're getting married!" She showed Dolly her engagement ring, prompting a loud whoop from her aunt.

"Heavens to Betsy!" Dolly yelled. Lilly held her ring up too, getting another squeal from Dolly. Dolly fanned herself a minute as she looked at the rings, then she tried to catch her breath. Tears started to form in her eyes as she said, "Miley, Lilly, Brooke would be so proud of you two." As she said that, tears began to run down her face. "Lands' sakes, my mascara's gonna run if I don't stop cryin'!"

Miley was starting to cry when Lilly said, "No crying, either of you, because I'm about to start too!" Her tone was light and playful, and it made everyone in the room laugh. Lilly got up and grabbed two paper towels and carried them back over to Dolly, who promptly used them to wipe her face. Lilly turned to Robbie Ray and said, "Mr. Stewart, would you mind to help get the bags in our car? We have some in the back seat and more bags and the groceries in the trunk. But don't look in any of the bags, because Santa might have left something in them!"

Robbie Ray stood and said, "I'd be happy to help with the bags, Lilly." He gave her a hug, then he walked past her and grabbed her jacket, slipping it on as he walked outside.

Lilly turned to look at Miley and said, "I'm going to change, Miley. I think I just want to sit on the couch with you and watch some TV tonight, maybe a movie or something."

"Okay hon," Miley answered. "Lay out my pajamas for me too?"

Lilly said, "Of course," with a smile, then she disappeared down the hall.

Miley leaned in and hugged Dolly tightly. "Thank you for not being angry with us," she said sincerely.

"Heaven's sakes, why would be I be angry?" Dolly asked.

Ruthie said, "Vickie was here earlier today." A knowing look fell over Dolly's face. Ruthie continued, "Let's just say that your older sister wasn't too understanding."

"What did she say?" Dolly said, a hint of anger in her voice. She looked at Miley. "Was she mean to either of you?" Miley nodded, not wanting to say more. "Oooooh, that woman!" Dolly said, now more than a hint of anger audible in her speech.

Ruthie held up her hand. "I already warned Vickie, Dolly. She's going have to deal with this herself, but I told her that Lilly is now considered part of this family just like Miley, and both of them will always be welcome here. If Vickie can't come to terms with that, then I don't want her here on Christmas."

Dolly and Miley both considered that in silence for several minutes. Miley didn't bother to sit back up, as she felt comforted when Dolly held her. After Miley's mother had died, Dolly had fulfilled her responsibility as godmother, becoming a second mother to Miley. The bond between the two of them had always been close, even from Miley's infancy, but it grew closer the time Miley and Robbie Ray spent with Dolly in Nashville. When they had moved to California to launch Hannah's career, it hurt Miley terribly to leave her godmother, but Miley knew it had to happen, because there was no way Dolly would move away from Tennessee. She had her own music career in Nashville, and she was already far enough from her family; any farther would be too great a distance to be comfortable.

Lilly came back into the room, wearing a pair of light blue Eeyore patterned pajamas. She tossed Miley a soft yellow set of pajamas, with a Pooh pattern on them. "Here are yours, Miles," she said as she retrieved a blanket from the other sofa.

The door opened as Robbie Ray came back in, a dusting of snow on his clothes. He set several bags inside the door, then turned around and got a second handful of bags. Once those were carried inside, he closed the door back. "Hoo Eee!" he called out. "It's really snowin' up a storm out there!" Indeed, several flakes fell as he removed his coat and hung it on the coat stand inside the door.

Miley stood and went into the bedroom to change as Lilly stretched out on the second sofa. "Where's Jackson?" Lilly asked.

"He went to talk to his girlfriend," Ruthie said knowingly. "Been in there nearly an hour now. He showed us some pictures of her today. She's a beautiful young lady."

Lilly said, "Yeah, Kaela is gorgeous, and she's really sweet, too. Not sure how Jackson caught her, exactly."

Dolly laughed as Robbie Ray said, "Well, Jackson's growin' up some." He pointed at Lilly as he said, "And I think you two had a lot to do with it."

"Us?" Lilly said incredulously. "How did we have anything to do with the two of them?"

Robbie Ray said, "Well, I think Jackson was a little jealous that you two had each other, even before you started datin'. And when you did start datin', I think he saw how great it could be to be in love with someone who felt the same way. I think that made him start thinkin' that maybe it was time to grow up some and stop actin' a fool all the time."

Lilly thought about that as Miley walked back into the room, her pajamas very yellow and very cute. She stepped in front of Lilly and stood briefly as she ran her hands through her hair, giving Lilly a chance to admire how her butt looked in the pajamas. Lilly had told Miley she liked those pajamas for that very reason, and Miley had obviously remembered. After a few seconds of teasing Lilly with her butt, Miley sat down alongside Lilly and stretched out beside her lover. Lilly draped the blanket over the two of them up to their bellies and wrapped her arms around Miley as they tangled their legs together under the blanket.

"What were y'all talkin' about?" Miley asked as Lilly held her tightly, bringing a smile to Miley's face. Lilly loved how Miley's accent had grown more prominent with being around her family. It was already adorable to Lilly, and now it was even more irresistible to her.

"We were just talkin' about Jackson growin' up some," said Dolly.

"About time," Miley said, rolling her eyes. She debated the wisdom of her next question, but she wanted to know what to expect. "Is Uncle Bobby coming this year?"

The silence in the room was telling. Finally Ruthie said, "I think so. He's trying hard to--" However, just then a knock sounded at the door. Ruthie got up and opened the door to look outside. "Heaven's sakes!" she said. "We were just talking about you," she said as she opened the door to let her son Bobby Ray and his wife walk in.

Miley and Lilly both sat up, relinquishing their very comfy position for the sake of propriety as they wrapped up in the large blanket to cover their pajamas. "Wow," Lilly whispered to Miley, "he really _does_ look like your dad." Miley nodded. Robbie Ray and Bobby Ray were born twins, but they put the lie to the theory that twins developed alike. From they way they spelled their names to their actions, the two brothers went in opposite directions at an early age. Miley remembered Bobby as not a very nice person, particularly when he drank too much. Luanne had always seemed scared of being with him, but she was quick to deny that he ever hurt her in any way. It had been years since Miley had seen him, and she had made a point to avoid him when he came to California to retrieve Luanne last year.

As Bobby stepped inside, he hugged his mother and then nodded at Dolly and Robbie Ray. Ruthie turned and said, "Noel, you already know Dolly, but I want you to meet Bobby's brother Robbie Ray." Noel visibly started when she saw Robbie Ray.

"Good heavens, you _do_ look just like Bobby! He had told me you two were twins, but still--"

She was cut off by Bobby as he said, "Well, he got the smarts and I got the good looks," getting a laugh from everyone. Bobby was smiling, and his eyes seemed clear. _Maybe he has changed for the better_, Miley thought.

Robbie Ray asked, "When did you two get hitched?"

Noel proudly said, "Last year, right around this time. Just had our first anniversary yesterday."

Ruthie then said, "And I want you two to say hello to Miley and Lilly," motioning to the two on the couch wrapped up underneath the blanket.

"Hi," Miley said, waving quickly, and Lilly also said, "Hello!"

Bobby walked across the room, and the smile on his face appeared genuine. "Miley, it's been a long time since I seen you last," he said. Miley stood and hugged him quickly, pleased that he didn't smell of alcohol. As Miley sat back down, he turned to Lilly while his wife Noel walked over to Miley and gave her a brief hug.

"It's good to finally meet you, Miley," Noel said. Thankfully, she avoided any comment on how much Miley looked like Luanne. Noel appeared significantly younger than Bobby, maybe in her mid-twenties. She had short dark, nearly black, hair and the build of a runner or swimmer. She was just slightly taller than Miley, but her shoulders were broader and she was a bit heavier than Miley or Lilly, but she appeared to be in very good shape.

As Noel and Miley spoke, Bobby looked at Lilly and said, "And you were..."

Lilly stood and extended her hand, which he took and shook. "I'm Lilly. I'm Miley's girlfriend." He didn't seem to react in any way to that admission, so Lilly took that as a good sign.

Bobby turned to walk over to the fire as Noel said, "Oh, that is a beautiful ring!" to Miley.

Miley and Lilly both smiled as Miley said, "Why, thank you! It's nearly a hundred and fifty years old."

"It looks amazing!" Noel said as she looked more closely at it. "May I see it?"

Miley smiled politely as she said, "Oh, I don't ever take it off. It's too special to me. Sorry."

Lilly added, "It had been in my family until I gave it to Miley." When Noel looked at her, Lilly said, "Hi, I'm Lilly."

"Hello Lilly," said Noel, shaking her hand. "Miley must be a very special friend for you to give her a gift like that."

Lilly put her arm around Miley and said, "She's the best friend I could ever have. I love her with all my heart." She gave Miley a kiss on the cheek, getting a playful push from Miley in return.

Miley briefly thought about signaling Lilly to not be so open yet, but she had previously made a decision to not be ashamed of their love. She smiled at Lilly, not noticing the look on Noel's face.

"Miley..." Noel said as the two girls sat back down on the couch, with Miley practically sitting in Lilly's lap. "Are you two..." She paused, hesitant to say anything further. She truly didn't want to upset anyone because she liked Bobby's family and she had just met Miley and Lilly. But still, they weren't doing anything to hide their affection for each other...

In response to Noel's question, Miley and Lilly both nodded. "Yes, we are," Miley said with a smile. "Now you see why Lilly gave me the ring?" she asked Noel.

Noel gasped. "You mean, it's an engagement ring?"

Miley nodded vigorously as she grinned and said, "Yep!"

Noel had never spent much time around gay men or women, but she was determined to become a true member of this family. She had never had much of a family life growing up, as her father ran off when she was six, and her mother had worked constantly to put Noel through school. Noel had earned a swimming scholarship to the University of Tennessee, and she had met Bobby shortly after graduation while she was working at a local bank. With her help and no small amount of tough love, he had managed to stop drinking and had remained sober for over a year now, as that was the condition she had put on getting married.

As Noel considered how she felt about Bobby's niece being a lesbian and bringing her girlfriend—no, her fiancée—with her to meet the family, she came to the conclusion that it wasn't her place to judge how Miley and Lilly lived. That was up to their parents, and apparently they were comfortable with them being together. After all, Robbie Ray was sitting right over there, and Lilly's parents had obviously let her come along for the holidays. Noel decided that she liked both Miley and Lilly, both for their honesty and their courage.

Meanwhile, Miley and Lilly were now watching Noel's face closely. It remained carefully neutral despite the smile frozen on her face, but quickly the smile broadened. When Noel said, "Congratulations!" and sounded sincere, the two of them breathed a joint sigh of relief. "Thank you," they said in unison, both smiling broadly.

Bobby had been in conversation with Robbie Ray and Dolly and had missed Noel's conversation with Miley and Lilly. He turned and said, "What are the congratulations for, darlin'?

Noel said, "For Miley and Lilly. They're engaged!" She walked over to him and hugged him as she said, "Isn't it romantic?"

Bobby said, "Well, sure, I guess it is," turning to Miley and Lilly. "You got pictures of the lucky fellas?" he said, walking over to them.

Ruthie spoke up and started to say something, but Miley quickly said, "There aren't any fellas, Uncle Bobby. Lilly and I are engaged." Seeing he still hadn't quite grasped what she was saying, Miley clarified, "We're engaged to _each other_."

Lilly held up her own ring, and Noel walked over to look at it. "Good Lord," she said as she looked closely at it. "That's an amazing ring!"

Lilly smiled as she said, "Yeah, I sure think so," giving Miley a loving look. However, the slamming of the front door made Lilly and Noel both jump. Lilly looked at Miley and saw her face turn pale. "Miles? What's wrong, hon?" she asked, her voice tight.

Tears ran down Miley's face as she continued to look at the front door. "He just walked out," she said softly. "And the look he gave us, oh Lilly, it was _so_ angry..."

Lilly quickly put her arms around Miley, prompting Miley to turn toward Lilly and bury her head in Lilly's shoulder as she let her tears flow freely, with sobs coming shortly after. "Shhhhh," Lilly whispered, rocking Miley slowly. "It's okay Miles, it's okay. I'm right here with you." She looked at Noel, who looked embarrassed and guilty.

Noel said, "I'm so sorry, I wouldn't have made such a big deal of it if I had any idea he was going to do that." It looked like she was about to cry herself. She turned to Ruthie and said, "Ruthie, I am so sorry," then she quickly walked outside as she said, "I need to have a talk with my husband," closing the door gently as she stepped out.

Lilly continued to hold Miley as she whispered, "Should we go back into our bedroom?"

With a muffled voice, Miley said, "No," making Lilly smile wanly.

_That's my strong Miley, the one who can stand up in front of a hundred thousand screaming fans and not run away_, Lilly thought, proud of her partner. "Take your time, Miles," she whispered, rubbing Miley's back as the sobs lessened, then finally stopped. "Can someone please get me a Kleenex or something?" Lilly said to no one in particular.

Dolly handed Lilly a box of Kleenex, then she sat on the couch with Miley and Lilly, on the other side of Miley. "Sweetheart, Bobby was just bein' thick-headed. You know how he can get, and you two just sorta blindsided him." She looked up, but the front door remained closed. "I think poor Noel was more mad at his showin' his ass than she was surprised at you two. I expect she's givin' him an earful."

Lilly didn't comment on Dolly's words, but she gave Dolly a look that she hoped conveyed her gratitude for helping to comfort Miley. _I'm glad at least some of Miley's family are really accepting, but I'd sure like to have a minute in private with both her Aunt Vickie and her Uncle Bobby,_ thought Lilly angrily. Miley finally lifted her head, revealing her red eyes and tear-streaked face. Lilly quickly handed her some Kleenex.

Miley wiped her eyes and blew her nose, then she said, "I can deal with critics and being screamed at by my fans, but having my family disappointed in me hurts more than I'd expected." Lilly put her hands on Miley's shoulders and looked her in the eyes, putting all the love and concern she had for Miley into her gaze. Miley quietly said, "Thank you," to Lilly. "Thank you for being here with me."

"Always," Lilly said just as quietly.

Miley reached back over her head, feeling for her aunt. When she felt Dolly take her hand, Miley said, "And thank you." She looked up at her father and at her grandmother. "Thank all of you, for being so loving and kind to us. I'm sorry that this has--"

Ruthie's tone was sharp as she said, "Miley May Stewart! You have absolutely nothing to apologize for! You and Lilly have been wonderful since you've been here, and you are always welcome here. I said that before, and I mean it. I just hope that some of my bone-headed children can realize that you two aren't some kind of monsters before Christmas gets here."

"Thank you, Mamaw," Miley said.

Lilly added, "Yeah, thanks Ruthie," as she stood up. She held out her hand to Miley, who took it and stood as Lilly helped her up. "I think we could use a hot bath," she said to Miley. "Get some of this stress out."

Miley smiled as she said, "Yeah, sounds good to me." She looked at everyone else and said, "Good night, everybody."

Lilly added, "Good night!" as she and Miley went down the hall as everyone else told them good night. Immediately after Lilly closed the door to their bedroom, there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" she asked.

"Your future daddy-in-law," came Robby Ray's voice through the door.

Lilly opened the door and let him in. "I think she could use a hug from her daddy," she said to him with a sad smile. He gently gripped Lilly's left shoulder, then he walked over to the bed and sat down beside his daughter. "Hey darlin'," he said lightly as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. When she started crying again, he felt Lilly sit down on his other side and lean against him. He put his other arm around her and held her as well, letting both girls cry a bit longer. He wished he could take all the anger and hostility at their relationship and throw it away, never to trouble them again. However, even fathers can only do so much to protect their girls, and right now he just held them while they released some of the hurt they had both felt over the last two days. In the peaceful shelter of the bedroom, if someone had been looking, they might have seen a tear or two slide down Robbie Ray's cheek. But no one was looking.

After long minutes, Robbie Ray gave both Miley and Lilly a kiss on the head, then he stood. "You two need to get that hot bath now, before Jackson decides it's time to get off the phone, 'cause he might run out all the hot water himself." Lilly and Miley both laughed softly as she stood.

"Good night, Daddy," Miley said, giving him another hug.

"Good night, Mr. Stewart," Lilly added. "And thank you for being such a good dad to Miley."

"My pleasure, darlin'," he answered as he walked to the door. He opened it and stepped out into the hall, ready to talk some more about how to deal with his pig-headed brother and older sister.

Miley and Lilly took off their pajamas and set them on the bed. "Time to relax," Lilly said as she rubbed Miley's tense shoulders.

Miley said, "You need some relaxing, too," as she led Lilly into the bathroom and started the shower. Tomorrow would be a new day, and maybe better things would come out of it.

**Author's Afterword:** Maybe a hot bath and a good night's sleep will help Miley and Lilly feel better in the morning. Next chapter, it's time for some fun in the snow before Luanne's last stages of her plan begin. I'm going to do my best to get it completed this weekend rather than make everyone wait another week. Hope to see you soon, and I hope you're still enjoying the story!

-- Jo --


	16. Chapter 16: The Thin Ice

**Author's Note:** I have to give due credit to YouTube's **jaywriter**, whose excellent Liley video set to Cascada's "Miracle" got me to take a chance on their album. As soon as the first song started playing, I knew I had the music for this chapter. If you haven't seen **jaywriter**'s "Miracle" vid, go find it on YouTube, as it's really well done. We also had another question from **TomK.A.** asking why Lilly didn't react to the spitting snow in New Jersey like she did in Tennessee. In New Jersey, Lilly was exhausted when she and Miley left the concert, so she probably didn't notice it. Also, she was understandably more excited by the closeness and intensity of the snow falling when she and Miley were driving back from Knoxville.

Special thanks to all my great readers and reviewers; this next chapter is dedicated to all of you! For my standard disclaimers, please see Chapter 1.

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 16: The Thin Ice

_'Cause every time we touch I get this feeling_

_And every time we kiss I swear I could fly_

_Can't you feel my heart beat fast_

_I want this to last_

_I need you by my side_

_'Cause every time we touch I feel the static_

_And every time we kiss I reach for the sky_

_Can't you hear my heart beat slow_

_I can't let you go_

_I want you in my life_

-- Cascada; "Everytime We Touch"

As the sun rose outside, the light softly fell into the room and across the bed where two young women were curled up, cuddled together and holding each other as they slept. Miley gently stirred into waking; as she stretched, Lilly mumbled something about popcorn and rolled onto her other side. Miley snickered as she made sure Lilly was covered up, then she slid carefully out of bed. She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door quietly behind her.

She followed the smell of country ham cooking to the kitchen, where she found her Mamaw preparing breakfast. "Morning, Mamaw," Miley said, walking over and giving her grandmother a hug.

"Good morning, dear," Ruthie Stewart said, patting Miley's long arms where they wrapped around her shoulders. "You're up awful early. Sleep well?"

Miley turned and got a glass out of the cabinet by the sink. "I always sleep well as long as Lilly's with me," she said matter-of-factly. "It's really odd, but that was one of the things that made me realize we were really meant to be together."

"What, that you sleep better when she's with you?" Ruthie asked as she continued to turn the ham as it cooked.

"No," Miley said, then she realized that wasn't exactly right. "Well, yes." She paused, then said, "Yes and no. Sorry, I know it's confusing." She poured herself a glass of orange juice and leaned back against the counter top near the stove, staying close to her grandmother. "Before Lilly and I realized that we were in love, I had been having these nightmares for, like, weeks. Maybe months. It's hard for me to remember exactly. But the first night we slept in the same bed together after we had confessed our true feelings to each other, the nightmares just stopped." Miley failed to notice that her grandmother had turned her attention away from the ham and was looking intently at her as she continued. "It was really crazy, because all I can remember about the nightmares is that I was alone, and Lilly was alone. I didn't know where she was, but I somehow knew she was alone. And we were looking for each other, but we couldn't find each other." She shivered involuntarily. "No matter what we tried, we couldn't find each other, and I just felt... cold. So cold, like I could never get warm again unless I found her." Miley took a drink of her orange juice, and Ruthie again turned her attention back to the sizzling ham. "I know that sounds weird, Mamaw, but even without remembering all the details, I still just sorta knew what those nightmares were about."

"And you said you haven't had any more of those nightmares since you and Lilly have been together?" Ruthie asked carefully.

"Not a one," Miley said with a smile. "Even when we sleep in different houses, I still don't have any more nightmares. We took that as a really good sign."

Ruthie began picking the ham out of the skillet with a long fork, setting the pieces of meat on a plate beside the stove. "It is a good sign, it sounds like," she said casually. She didn't want to frighten Miley, but she had to know more. "Didn't you say something about seeing your mother in a dream when Vickie was here yesterday morning?"

Miley nodded. "Yeah, the first night Lilly and I were together, we were sleeping in my bed at the house. And during the night, I had this dream. It was so real, I mean, like even _more_ real than a typical dream. In the dream, I was downstairs in the kitchen and someone was cooking breakfast. She looked like me from behind, but when she turned around I saw it was my mom cooking breakfast for Lilly and me. She knew that Lilly and I had..." She trailed off because she felt rather self-conscious sharing this detail with her grandmother, but she couldn't lie to her. "Momma knew that Lilly and I had... made love the night before, and she was okay with that. In fact, she was happy. She said that for a long time she had prayed for me to find the right person to spend my life with, and that I had done that with Lilly." Miley felt herself becoming misty-eyed as she remembered the dream, but the tears were good tears and there was no shame with them. "She said that Lilly loved me with all her heart just like I had fallen in love with her, and that I should be able to sleep again now that we had found each other."

Ruthie numbly turned off the stove as she ran some water in the frying pan and set it in the sink. Once that was done, she went to the table and sat down, still listening but not looking at Miley. "Did anything else happen, Miley? In that dream, I mean?" she asked, her voice wavering slightly.

Miley wiped her eyes as she nodded. "Yeah, then Lilly came downstairs in the dream. She talked to my mom, and she told Momma that she loved me completely and would always be good to me. And then..." Miley trailed off, as the tears were threatening to burst forth. "Then, she and Momma hugged each other, and it made me want to just cry," she said as she did indeed begin crying, "because it was something I had wanted for so, so long. For them to meet, I mean. I just never imagined it could really happen." She took a minute to compose herself, and in that time Ruthie had gotten back up and ran some water over a clean washrag, handing it to Miley.

Miley wiped her face and forehead with the cool washrag, staunching the flow of her tears, mostly. "Thanks, Mamaw," she said with a smile. "But that still wasn't the really weird part of the dream. When Lilly and I woke up, we started talking about our dreams, and we realized we both had the _exact same dream_ the night before. We were comparing details, and she described my dream exactly!" Miley saw that her grandmother was trembling slightly, and she quickly decided to not share details of any other dreams or what she and Lilly had seen at the cemetery just yet. "Are you okay, Mamaw?" she asked, concerned about her grandmother's reaction to her dream.

Ruthie looked at Miley and she forced a smile onto her face. "Sorry Miley," she said. "I just--" She opened her arms and pulled Miley in for a hug. "I just wasn't expecting to hear that from you," she said, hugging a young woman, not the little girl she remembered playing kitchen with her long years ago.

Miley pulled back and looked into her Mamaw's face. "What's wrong, Mamaw?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.

Ruthie smiled, and Miley could see that tears were forming in her eyes. "Nothing's wrong, Miley," she said, and she sounded sincere. "In fact, your dream is wonderful, really. It truly is a sign that you and Lilly are supposed to be together." She motioned for them to walk over to the table, where they both sat down. "I think the time's come for me to tell you something that I didn't think I'd ever have to tell you."

"Okay, Mamaw, you're making me nervous..." Miley said, an uncertain look on her face.

"Don't be nervous, Miley," Ruthie said as she took her granddaughter's hands in her own. "It's just..." She took a moment to consider her words, then she began again. "Your mother had a gift, Miley, that ran in her family. It was very rare, but sometimes she could see things, in her dreams. Just like you told me you saw her, Brooke could sometimes see her grandma. Brooke didn't believe her mother, who used to tell her that _her_ mother, Brooke's grandma, could see things in her dreams at times, but I remember some of the things that Miss Jessie used to talk about when I was a little girl, and they'd come true. I saw it happen several times."

Miley felt a chill settle over her body as she listened to her Mamaw confirm what she and Lilly had already suspected. "I've seen and talked to Momma more than once in my dreams, Mamaw," she said. "And... I've seen more. I've seen Lilly and me in the future, sometimes several years in the future." She held her breath, unsure of her Mamaw's reaction to that revelation.

"And is what you see good or bad?" Ruthie asked her.

"It's good, every time," Miley replied. "I mean, it's wonderful. Twice now, I've dreamed--" She stopped, afraid to say anything further, as if saying anything about their daughter might cause things not to turn out that way.

"Miley, you don't have to tell me anything you're not comfortable saying," Ruthie said kindly.

Miley mutely nodded, grateful that her grandmother wasn't going to pry. Right now, Miley just wanted to keep the knowledge that she and Lilly would have a daughter in the future between her and Lilly. And her mother, of course.

Lilly shuffled into the kitchen just then. "Miles, is everything okay?" she asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "I was asleep, then I just started feeling really nervous and--" Lilly stopped as she saw Miley's eyes red from tears both shed and unshed, and she quickly hurried over and pulled out a chair beside Miley, hugging her girlfriend as she sat next to her. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked as she looked into Miley's face with concern. She turned to look at Ruthie and said, "What's going on?" in a voice slightly louder than she planned on using. _I love you, Ruthie, but I'm not going to let anyone hurt Miley any more; she's had enough this trip_.

Miley quickly said, "Nothing's wrong, Lilly Bear," as she turned to look into Lilly's bright blue eyes, wanting Lilly to see the truth in her statement. "Really, nothing's wrong. We were just talking about my dreams. Our dreams." Not seeing recognition in Lilly's eyes yet, Miley added, "The _special_ dreams."

Lilly nodded knowingly. "_Those_ dreams," she added. "Did you tell her about them?" she asked Miley, getting a nod in return. Lilly turned to look at Ruthie. "Do you believe her?" she asked, daring Ruthie to say no.

Instead, Ruthie nodded her head. "Oh yes. I believe both of you. I was telling Miley that sometimes her mother Brooke could see things in her dreams." She turned to look at Miley again. "Very much like Miley has been," she added. "Miley's great-grandmother had the same gift of sight."

Lilly thought about that fact as she held Miley. Then she smiled and said to Miley, "Told you it was real," getting a teary laugh from Miley.

Miley said, "Yeah, you did," leaning her head on Lilly's shoulder. As she did so, she noticed that the kitchen window was frosted over. She stood up and kissed Lilly on top of her head, then she walked to the front door. She opened the inner door slightly and yelled, "Yes!" as she started jumping up and down.

Lilly jumped up and ran over to the door. When she got there, Miley flung the main door open all the way, showing Lilly a sight that made her stop in her tracks, her mouth agape. Outside, everything was covered in white. Some snowflakes still tumbled through the air as they fell, but it was clear that most of the snow had already fallen. The sun hadn't risen yet, giving the landscape a soft, cottony white appearance.

"Can you believe it?" Miley said to Lilly excitedly.

Lilly was unable to summon words at that moment. While the roof of the porch had kept the snow from accumulating on the porch itself, roughly an inch or so of snow had piled up on the porch railing, carried there by the wind as it fell. Lilly carefully opened the door and stepped out. As she did so, the cold air hit her bare feet and arms abruptly, startling her back into speech. "It is _so_ cold," she said, pronouncing each word deliberately as she stepped across the wooden porch, her feet tingling. As she reached the railing, she touched the snow with her fingertips. Her initial sensation was that it was soft, then slightly wet, and then the cold sensation hit her fingertips. She scooped up a handful of it and then flung it off the the porch, laughing as she did so. "Oh my gosh!" she squealed, shaking her hand to get the remaining bits of wet snow of her hand. She ran back inside, drying her hand on her shirt. As she stepped inside the door, she grabbed the door and abruptly closed it, then she grabbed Miley and spun her around the living room as they did a little dance together. "It snowed! It snowed!" Lilly said happily, dragging Miley along with her happy dance.

"Yeah, it snowed," Miley said, less enthusiastic than Lilly but still happy for her girlfriend. She grabbed Lilly's shoulders and held her in place, then she looked in her eyes and said, "Want to go play in the snow?"

Miley's dark blue eyes danced as Lilly looked into them. Her heart was racing at the excitement of the snow, and it took all her self-control to stand still as Miley held her. Right then, Lilly was ready to run back out into the snow barefoot, but she realized that there had been a reason Miley had wanted to get winter clothes for her yesterday. Getting frostbite or hypothermia would be a sucky way to spend Christmas.

Lilly nodded with a grin as she said, "Oh yeah. Lilly wants to play in the snow." She tugged Miley toward their bedroom. "C'mon, let's get dressed and get out there!"

Miley ran with her back to the bedroom. "You want to eat breakfast first, Lilly?" she asked as they went back into their room.

Lilly paused for a few seconds, then she said, "We can grab something on our way out the door! I don't want the snow to melt before we get out there!"

"Lilly," Miley said firmly. "It's twenty degrees outside. I don't think the snow is melting any time soon."

"Oh," Lilly said. "Really?"

Miley nodded. "Really."

Lilly considered that. "Well, in that case, let's hurry up and eat!" she declared, nearly spinning Miley around as she ran back into the hall and to the kitchen.

Miley could hear cabinet doors shutting and clinking as Lilly grabbed each of them a plate and a glass. She smiled to herself as she began laying out thermal underwear and socks for both of them. "Merry early Christmas, Lilly Bear," she said quietly.

After breakfast, Miley and Lilly bundled up and went outside. As Miley ran down the steps on the front porch, she heard Lilly mumble something rather loudly behind her. Miley turned around and laughed at the sight of Lilly, wrapped up in a big blue winter coat, thick pink scarf, pink woolly hat, pink earmuffs, black ski pants and waterproof boots. "You look like the Michelin man, Lilly!" Miley yelled, getting another mumble in response.

Lilly finally reached up and fumbled with her black ski gloves until she had moved her scarf enough to where she could talk. "I know your plan, Miles!" she yelled. "You want to get me all slow, so you can throw snowballs at me!"

Miley stood at the foot of the steps and said, "I wouldn't do that, sweetheart. C'mon, let me help you down the steps." As Lilly lumbered toward her, Miley strode back up the steps and helped Lilly slowly but surely make her way down to the solid ground. "Let's go get the sleds out of the barn," Miley said, taking off at a fairly quick run through the three-inch-high snow.

Lilly followed as best as she could, but it was tricky running in the snow, especially with all her heavy clothing on. She did finally get the hang of it, but not in time to catch Miley. As she made it to the barn, Miley turned and held out a pair of sunglasses. "Here," Miley said, "put these on."

"Hello?" Lilly answered, holding up her gloved hands.

"Oh. Sorry," Miley said. She slipped off her own gloves and gently put the sunglasses on Lilly's face. "You'll be happy we bought these yesterday when the sun comes out," she said to her girlfriend.

"Um, I'll take your word for it," Lilly said, not enthused about wearing the cheap and rather ugly sunglasses. "Does it really get that bright with all the snow?"

Miley turned to look at Lilly with a disbelieving gaze. "You know how sometimes the sun reflects off the water while you're surfing?" she asked Lilly.

"Yeah, that's pretty bright," Lilly replied as Miley put her own sunglasses on and replaced her gloves. "But I'm not seeing any ocean around here," she said doubtfully.

"Well, snow reflects sunlight much more than water does, because it's white!" She handed Lilly a long blue sled made from a hard plastic. "Now let's go hit the big hill down the road. We used to be able to fly comin' off that thing!'

Lilly dutifully trudged along after Miley. "So do we have to worry about any wild animals or anything out here?"

Miley didn't turn around as she said, "Well, just bears. But they run really slow this time of year, 'cause they don't like snow."

"That's not funny, Miley!" Lilly yelled at Miley's back.

Miley turned around and said, "Sorry hon, I was just joking with you. Bears are hibernatin' this time a' year." She turned back around and started walking again. "It's the snow panthers you have to really watch out for," she said, glad Lilly couldn't see the smirk on her face.

"Miley!" Lilly yelled angrily as she hurried to catch up with Miley.

Luanne sat in her motel room, stewing about the snow. While it wouldn't stop her from bringing things to a boil tonight, not being able to watch Todd today bothered her. She had already called him and told him to stay at his house until she could get there, but she still worried about him trying to walk down to Mamaw Ruthie's and see "Miley" or something equally stupid. She had already told him that if he did run into "her" around Lilly, that "she" would have to act like "she" didn't like him and that everything was fine with Lilly.

Luanne hoped that would work. With Todd, it probably would. He wanted to believe Luanne so badly, he was willing to look past things even more unbelievable. But still... Luanne didn't like uncertainty. As soon as the roads were plowed, she'd head up the mountain in her Jeep. She had driven in much deeper snow out in Wyoming, but she wasn't in the mood to take chances with the mountain. Going off the side of it would most likely be fatal, either instantly or soon after.

She opened her phone and dialed Todd's cell phone number. Maybe one more talk this afternoon. At the very least, it was nice to hear him say that he loved her, even if he thought she was someone else. Luanne could always pretend, after all. She was good at that.

As Miley and Lilly clomped back up onto the porch at Ruthie's, they stopped and shook off as much snow as they could. They had been out in the snow nearly four hours total, coming inside for a short break after the first hour and then for a fifteen-minute break after another ninety minutes. "I'm beat, Miles," Lilly said wearily. "And I think my whole body is numb." She went to sit down in a rocking chair, but she came up short and plopped down onto the porch floor. "Eek," she said weakly. "I think I fell."

Miley laughed and said, "Want a hand up?"

Lilly shook her head. "Nope, not going to waste this opportunity," she said as she took off her gloves and began working on her boots' laces. They were nearly frozen and required some effort to undo them, but finally they yielded to her efforts. She glanced over at Miley, who was also having a difficult time with her boots' laces. Finally Lilly and Miley both got their boots off at nearly the same time. As they stood, Lilly took off her hat and shook the snow from her hair. She had wiped out several times while sledding, and more than once she had went head-first into a snowbank. She unzipped her heavy coat, and snow fell out of it with a thump on the porch. "Wow," she said. "Why didn't it melt?"

Miley slid out of her coat, with the same dumping of trapped snow that Lilly had just experienced. "The layers keep most of your body heat inside, under the thermals, the shirt and sweater." She took her own hat off and shook the snow out of her hair. "Still, we came out of it better than Jackson did," she said with a grin.

"Oh yeah!" Lilly said in her lilting high-pitched voice. "I almost feel bad for him," she added with a smile. Miley raised her eyebrows at Lilly and started to speak, but Lilly interrupted her. "You know, when you do that eyebrow thing, it really turns me on," she said with a saucy grin.

Miley's eyebrows stayed up. "I'll have to remember that," she said playfully.

"You do that."

"Anyway," Miley said again. "Don't feel sorry for Jackson. He deserved it when he tried to ambush us with that sled full of snowballs he had already made."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lilly said as they stepped inside the house, the warmth wrapping over them like a blanket. "I had no idea that a tree limb would hold that much snow on it. Or that shaking it would dump all the snow off at once." She took her socks off as Miley did the same. "And getting him to go off that one hill in his sled was just kinda mean. I mean, it was nearly straight down!"

Miley waved her hand dismissively as she said, "Ah, I knew he'd stop eventually. Plus Daddy is out there with him. Jackson _is_ gonna have one heck of a walk to get back up to the road, though." She grinned and then said, "C'mon, we need to take these wet clothes off in the laundry room before we drip everywhere." She and Lilly quickly made their way down the hall to the laundry room, right beside their bedroom, conveniently. There they stripped down to their thermal underwear and ran back into their bedroom.

As they closed the door behind them, Miley yawned loudly. Lilly reached around Miley's body and pulled down her thermal bottoms. "Got something in mind, Lilly?" Miley asked suggestively.

Lilly looked up at Miley, her cheeks red both from the play outside and the building heat in the room. "Maybe," she said. "But I think a nap would help us right now more than anything."

Miley yawned again, then she said, "Can't argue with ya there. C'mon, stand up so I can help you." Lilly obliged, dropping her own thermals and taking off her panties as she did so. Miley lifted Lilly's thermal top over her head, with Lilly immediately returning the favor. Miley went into the bathroom as she undid her bra; Lilly undid hers while standing and tossed it into the laundry hamper in the corner. As Miley came back out of the bathroom, she tossed Lilly a towel. "Dry off before you get in the bed," she said sweetly. "I'll be using the bathroom."

"Hey!" said Lilly with fake outrage. "I need to pee too!"

From the bathroom, Miley's voice said, "Shoulda got in here first, then!" Lilly dried off quickly, then she wadded up her towel and waited, drawing a bead on the bathroom doorway. She heard Miley run some water, probably to wet a washcloth and wash off quickly. When Miley finally stepped into the doorway, Lilly tossed the towel, hitting her squarely in the head.

"Bam!" Lilly said gleefully as Miley bent down to retrieve the towel.

"Stinker," Miley said, her smile indicating that she wasn't really upset. In fact, the playfulness was part of what made their relationship so wonderful. They had learned how far was too far when it came to these little games, and since the boundaries were known, they were able to relax and truly enjoy themselves when they played.

Lilly walked over to Miley and gave her what she had intended to be a quick kiss, but Miley wrapped her arms around Lilly and pulled her close, making the kiss much longer and more intense than Lilly had planned. When Miley released her, Lilly was breathless. "Whoa," Lilly said weakly. "What was that for?"

"Just because I love you," said Miley. "And because I've had one of the best times I can ever remember today, all because you were here with me."

"Aww, you're so sweet, Miley. Thank you. And I've had an incredible time today too!" Lilly gently cupped Miley's left cheek with her right hand. "But right now I really need to pee, so go get in that bed and get it warm for your future wife, okay?"

"Okay," Miley said, rubbing the back of Lilly's hand on her cheek before she stepped back and climbed onto the bed. "Hurry," said Miley. "And make sure you wash off good! I don't want no stinky butt in my bed!"

After a minute or two, Lilly came charging back into the bedroom and leaped onto the bed, nearly bouncing Miley out into the floor. Lilly reached for the covers, but Miley quickly flipped them open, letting her lover crawl under the covers and snuggle up right beside her naked body. They made small adjustments until both of them were perfectly comfortable holding each other, then they relaxed and kissed a few times. When they stopped to look in each other's sleepy eyes, Lilly said, "Want to take a nap first, then make love later?"

Miley smiled as she said, "Lilly, sometimes it's like you can read my mind. Sleep good, hon."

"You too, Miles," Lilly said as she closed her eyes. As she relaxed her breathing, she felt Miley's breathing also slow. As Lilly focused on feeling hers and Miley's hearts beating, she slipped into slumber gently.

Miley stayed awake for a few seconds longer, looking at Lilly's face. When she slept, Lilly wrinkled her nose right after falling asleep, and Miley found that adorable. As Lilly's nose wrinkled, Miley saw her partner's face relax and then smile. Knowing that Lilly was now sleeping peacefully, Miley leaned forward and kissed Lilly's soft nose, still slightly cold from being outside all morning. She then reached across Lilly and lightly settled her right hand in the small of Lilly's back, easing her lover even closer against her until their bellies were touching. Miley smiled and closed her eyes. All was right in the world, at least for this moment.

After some time, the sound of voices singing stirred both Lilly and Miley from sleep at roughly the same time. "Who is that, Miley?" Lilly asked with a sleepy voice.

Lilly ran her hand over her face and said, "Sounds like Daddy and Aunt Dolly." She turned to look at Lilly. "Want to go join 'em?"

Lilly smiled as she said, "You bet, if you're going to sing too."

Miley said, "Well, I guess if it's just us, it'll be okay."

Lilly grinned and gave Miley a quick kiss. "That's my girl," she said.

They quickly got up and got ready. The clock told them it was after five, and before long it would be dark. They brushed each other's hair carefully, then they each got dressed for the family get-together and dinner tonight. Since they had slept through lunch, they were both quite ready for some food, but both of them wanted to look good and still fit in. Miley put on a powder blue sweater over a light gray shirt and blue jeans, and she let her curls fall freely around her face. Lilly went with a bright red shirt and jeans, with a Santa cap topping off her outfit. Once they were ready, they went out into the hall and made their way into the large living room. Sitting around the room were Jackson, Robby Ray, Dolly and Ruthie.

Miley and Lilly said hello to everyone and made their way to the end of the couch where Robby Ray and Dolly sat. Lilly motioned for Miley to sit and when Miley did so, Lilly sat on the arm of the couch, leaning against Miley. "What are we singing?" Miley asked.

"You think you can handle some ol' Christmas tunes?" Robby Ray asked, a smile on his face. "That is, if you remember any of 'em."

Miley grinned at the playful challenge. "Oh, I think I can handle a few," she said. As Dolly began singing "Deck the Halls," Miley and Robby Ray joined right in. Lilly had never had all three of them sing before, and it really was a marvelous sound, as all three voices had very different qualities yet melded beautifully in the song. After finishing that song, they began another when the phone rang. Ruthie got up to answer it, and Lilly took that moment to go get a drink, as she knew Miley would want something after another song or two.

As Lilly walked into the kitchen, Ruthie picked up the handset in the kitchen. Lilly poured a glass of sweetened iced tea but hadn't gotten out of the kitchen as Ruthie stopped her.

"Lilly, that was Vickie on the phone. She's afraid that if she pulls into the driveway she won't be able to get back out." The tone of Ruthie's voice left little doubt as to what she thought of her daughter's worry. "Would you be a dear and run to the end of the driveway and help them carry their gifts down here?"

Lilly took a glance at Miley, who was obviously having a great time singing with her aunt and father. Lilly turned back to Ruthie and said, "Of course, Ruthie! Don't tell Miley where I've gone, or she'll stop singing and join me." Lilly turned and looked at her fiancée again. "She needs to enjoy herself some," she said quietly.

Ruthie patted Lilly on the shoulder. "Thank you, dear," she said. "It says quite a bit about you that you're still willing to help Vickie after what she said yesterday."

Lilly said, "Honestly, whether either of us likes it or not, we're going to be related soon. We might as well start getting used to it now." Lilly smiled and said, "I'll be back in just a bit." She slipped into the hallway and retrieved her jacket and put on another pair of thick socks and her boots. When she was ready, she went out the back door and walked around the house. As she walked by the pen, she saw Sunny the goat looking at her pointedly. "Glad that fence is between you and me, mean old goat," Lilly muttered.

When she walked around the corner of the house, Lilly could see Vickie's car just barely pulled off the road at the front of the driveway. She was struggling with some presents in the trunk of the sedan, and it looked like the presents were going to win. Lilly started to run down the driveway, then she had an idea. She reached into her coat pocket and was pleased to see that her key to the rental car was there. She hurried to the car and got in. She quickly started the car and turned around, being careful to not spin the tires like Miley had warned her. Since the majority of the driveway was level, Lilly expected that she'd be able to travel most of it in the car, saving them quite a bit of walking. As she approached the bridge, Lilly slowed to a stop and got out, leaving the car running. She walked up the slight hill and crossed the bridge. "Hi!" she called with as friendly a voice as she could muster.

As Lilly called out, two little boys sped around the back of Vickie's car, running toward her at high speed. "Lilly! Lilly!" Andy and Heath both yelled as they ran up to Lilly and hugged her, each taking a leg.

"Down, boys," Lilly said laughing as she gently pried them off her. "Hop in the car, it's getting warm. That way you won't have to walk all the way to Mamaw Ruthie's house." She opened the door for them and then closed it behind them. The car didn't have booster seats for the boys, but Lilly could grab them from Vickie's car. _And speaking of the devil..._ "Let me help you with those, please," Lilly said politely as she approached Vickie. As she saw Vickie's expression regarding accepting Lilly's help, Lilly said, "It'll be a lot easier to move the presents to this car and drive to the house than to carry them all there. Really."

Vickie didn't say anything to Lilly, but she finally sighed and handed her the bags of presents she was holding. Lilly smiled as she took them to the rear of the car and popped the trunk, settling them in the back. Vickie carried more bags to the trunk, but she stayed on the other side of the Sebring from Lilly. After all the presents and the booster seats were transferred, Lilly closed the trunk on the Sebring while Vickie closed the trunk on her car. "Hop in," Lilly said to Vickie as she opened the driver's door. Vickie just stood between the two cars and looked at Lilly, not moving any closer.

Lilly sighed as she closed the driver's door. "Look," she said without raising her voice, "I'm not diseased. I'm not going to bite you and then you turn into a lesbian three days later. Trust me on this." Vickie still looked at her apprehensively. "Why are you mad at Miley and me for just loving each other?" she asked. Abruptly she stopped before she could launch into a tirade. "You know," she said, "that's really what you should be asking yourself. Why _are_ you mad at us for loving each other? If Miley is happy with me and I'm happy with her and we're good to each other, shouldn't you be happy for your niece?"

"It's just not right," Vickie said quietly.

"And who judges what's right?" Lilly countered. "You? God?"

"God judges," Vickie answered solemnly.

Lilly nodded. "Okay, I can live with that. In fact, Miley and I _have_ to live with that. When we die, if God tells us we were wrong to love each other, then we'll have to deal with His consequences. Until then, I'm going to enjoy every minute I have with Miley, because she's the most amazing person I've ever met, boy or girl, and I'll thank God every day of my life that she loves me!" Lilly reached for the car door and paused before she opened it. She looked back at Vickie and said, "Now, I'm taking your grandsons on to your mother's house so they don't have to walk through the snow in the cold. And if you're too good to ride in a car with me, then you can just freeze your butt off in the cold while you walk!" She opened the door and sat down in the driver's seat, then she closed the door and buckled her seatbelt. As she was about to shift into reverse, the passenger door opened. Vickie sat down with only a glance at Lilly, but Lilly still smiled. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" she asked Vickie, even though she didn't expect a response..

Lilly backed the car down the driveway to the house, reaching the parking area without incident. As she parked the car and turned off the ignition, she hopped out and opened the rear door for Andy and Heath to get out. The boys laughed as they ran past Lilly toward the front porch. "Hey!" Lilly yelled after them. "You guys need to help carry these presents!" However, the boys didn't come back to the car. "Oh well," Lilly muttered as she opened the trunk and grabbed two bags of presents. As she leaned into the trunk, she heard a _thump_ against the trunk. Peeking around the raised trunk, she say Andy and Heath flinging snowballs at her. She quickly ducked back behind the cover of the trunk as two more thumps sounded on the other side of the trunk. She heard Vickie's door open, then Vickie shrieked as two softer thumps indicated the boys had changed targets. Seizing the opportunity, Lilly scooped up snow off the car's bumper and packed it into a snowball, then a second. She grabbed the snowballs and stepped out from behind the trunk, aiming and firing the first snowball and then the second. Her aim was excellent, striking first Heath in the chest, then Andy in the head.

As the boys yelled and ran up the steps onto the porch, Lilly laughed and yelled, "That's right, keep running!" to their backs. She went back to the bags of presents and met Vickie, who was now standing at the trunk as well.

"Thank you," Vickie said, still not smiling but now not actively glowering at Lilly as she brushed snow out of her hair.

"You're welcome," said Lilly, managing a smile without much effort, as she was rather proud of her aim with the snowballs despite no practice before today. She handed Vickie two bags of presents, and Vickie accepted them without any further words. Lilly grabbed three bags herself and decided she could come back for the other bags. "Let's get inside before they decide to start round two," she said to Vickie, who nodded at her.

As Lilly stepped inside Ruthie's house, she saw Andy and Heath had stripped off their coats and tossed them on the floor. Ruthie was brushing snow out of Andy's hair, and fussing at the two boys about either hurling snowballs at their poor grandmother, discarding their coats on the floor, or possibly both. Lilly looked across the room and saw Miley trying hard not to laugh at the situation. Miley stood up and walked over to Lilly as Vickie stepped inside and carried her bags to the Christmas tree in the large living room. Upon reaching her girlfriend, Miley took the bags from Lilly, then she made a twirling motion with her finger. Dutifully Lilly turned around so Miley could remove her coat and hang it on the coat stand inside the door. When Miley turned around, she gave Lilly a hug and said, "Thanks, that was really sweet of you to go help with Aunt Vickie's presents."

Lilly shrugged and said, "She's your aunt, Miley. She's going to be my family too before long."

Miley smiled and tucked one of Lilly's braids back behind her left ear. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?" she asked softly.

Lilly grinned and leaned in close to Miley. "Not nearly enough," she answered.

Miley put her arms around Lilly's waist and whispered, "I love you, Lilly Truscott."

Lilly closed her eyes as Miley spoke, absorbing the words she loved to hear more than anything. When Miley had spoken them, Lilly opened her eyes again and looked at the young woman whom she had fallen head over heels for. Regardless of prejudice, regardless of tradition, regardless of what anyone thought about their relationship, Lilly and Miley would do whatever it took to be with each other, and Heaven help anyone who would stand in her way.

Luanne put down her binoculars, ending her observation of her cousin and Lilly for the time being. She checked her watch. She was due to meet Todd in ten minutes at his house. His parents were gone, off to a Christmas party, and she suspected he'd be in an amorous mood.

Oddly, the thought of having sex with him wasn't as disgusting as it had been the first time. She had almost enjoyed it, but his constantly referring to her as "Miley" had ruined it for her. _This_ time she'd make sure he stayed quiet, even if she had to gag him. No point in him having all the fun, after all. She smiled her cold smile. Tonight, things would be balanced. Miley and that stupid Lilly would have their hearts broken, her father and that young tramp he married would get theirs, and Luanne's family would be devastated. After all this planning, things were finally about to turn around. Once everyone's happiness had been shattered, then they'd all be equal again.

Luanne stood and walked down the ridge to her Jeep, carefully parked off the road where it couldn't be seen. As she opened the plastic door and sat down, she surprised herself by having second thoughts. _Is this really the right way to go about this?_ some part of her pleaded. _Maybe you could have another chance now. Before you do something from which there's no turning back._ Seizing control with great mental effort, Luanne slammed her head down into the steering wheel, instantly sending flashing lights and sparkles dancing across her vision. _If they don't pay, then I'll have to pay for what I've done to them, she thought. What I'm going to do to them._ As the pain radiated from her forehead, Luanne used it to reawaken her anger, like stoking a bonfire that was in danger of dying out. Once again in control, Luanne started the Jeep. _Better to punish them than to punish myself any more._

An hour later, Miley took Ruthie aside as Lilly played hide and seek with the children. In addition to Andy and Heath, Vickie's other grandchildren, Peyton and Melody, had arrived with their parents Paul and Traci. Paul was Vickie's younger son, but Peyton and Melody were slightly older than their first cousins at the ages of seven and six As Miley watched, Lilly was chasing the children around the house, tickling them relentlessly whenever she caught one of them. "Mamaw, have you noticed anything weird about Aunt Vickie?" Miley asked.

They were in the kitchen fixing drinks for everyone. Miley's uncle Bobby and his new wife Noel were on the way, bringing more food to supplement what Ruthie had already fixed earlier in the day. Lilly had made a significant dent in the food all by herself, but Miley and Jackson had also contributed in the eating department. Ruthie took a surreptitious look at Vickie, who actually smiled as Lilly was "tackled" by Andy and Heath in the hallway. "She looks like she's not as angry," Ruthie offered hopefully.

"Yeah, Lilly said that she talked to her earlier, when she was helping her get the presents out of her car."

Ruthie was secretly pleased. She had hoped that Lilly's sunny disposition would rub off on Vickie, and she was thrilled that it seemed to have worked. "Lilly has a way with people," Ruthie said to her granddaughter. "Just like you do."

Miley smiled. Praise from her Mamaw had always made her feel good, and hearing praise for Lilly made her feel just as good. "I was really hopin' that Vickie would back off and just let us be who we are," she said to her grandmother. "And David and Paul seem just fine with us bein' together, and their wives seem okay with it too. Maybe things are gonna turn out good this year for Christmas."

Luanne and Todd had parked the Jeep back along the road, and now they were walking down Ruthie's driveway. Luanne didn't have to fake being nervous this time. So much depended on Todd being able to carry out his part of the plan without screwing it up. She hated giving him so much responsibility, but there was really no choice in the matter. If anyone spotted her, the entire plan would be ruined. Time to get things rolling.

"Stop!" Luanne hissed at Todd through her teeth as they approached the house. She had told Todd that tonight "she" was going to break up with Lilly. Naturally, he was eager to do anything it took to make that happen, so he'd be ready to swallow any lie Luanne tossed his way. And now it was time for the big lie, the one that would either tip him off that something was wrong or seal Miley's and Lilly's fate.

"What is it?" he whispered back to her.

"I saw somebody," Luanne said. "In the window." She made herself shiver, with him predictably moving closer to her to hold her in response. She turned to look up into his eyes. "It's my cousin Luanne."

Todd stared back at her for a minute. "That bitch? I thought she was locked up in a mental hospital somewhere," he said.

Luanne inwardly grimaced at his choice of title for her. _You'll pay for that, pretty boy._ "I know I saw her, Todd. She's got to be here for some reason. Some horrible plan of some kind."

Todd looked at the house, brightly lit with outside Christmas lights and lights shining forth from the windows as well. "Then we'll put a stop to it," he said.

"She must be pretending to be me," Luanne said. "I had slipped off earlier to find you, and she must have taken advantage of me being gone. Heck, she might have been watching me all day, even."

Todd thought for a minute. "Do you think you can get her outside?" he asked.

Luanne shook her head. "No. As unstable as she is, if I confronted her, she might pull out a gun and start shooting people." She turned and looked at Todd. "But you could probably get her to come outside to talk to you. And then you could get her to follow you to the barn..."

"Where you'd be waiting?" Todd guessed.

Luanne nodded with as bright a smile as she could manage. "We could tie her up and make sure nobody would get hurt, then we could go inside and I could put Lilly in her place." _And leave her sobbing on the floor as her whole world collapsed around her._

"And be with me," Todd said, grinning.

_Oh, gag me._ "Yes, and be with you," she forced herself to say.

Todd looked back at the house. "Okay, let's do it. Where do you want me to bring her in the barn?"

Luanne smiled her predatory smile, not bothering to hide it from Todd anymore. "How about the ladder going up to the hayloft?"

Todd thought about it and said, "Okay. But you're not going to hurt her or anything, are you?"

"No!" she lied smoothly. _No more than she deserves._

Back at Ruthie's, Bobby and Noel finally arrived with bags of presents and two covered dishes; sausage balls were in one, with red and white Christmas cookies in the other. As they entered, the smiles on their faces faded as the two of them saw Miley and Lilly sitting on the couch on the far side of the living room. As soon as they had stepped inside, Lilly quickly stood up and walked over to them. "Let me help you with those dishes, Noel," Lilly said as she took the two covered dishes and placed them on the stove. She walked back over to them and said, "Can I talk to you two outside for just a minute?" The tone in her voice made it quite clear that she wasn't asking, she was telling.

Noel quietly said, "Of course, Lilly," as she looked at Bobby Ray. He nodded and opened the door as all three of them stepped outside onto the front porch. While quite a bit of the snow had melted during the day, it was still below freezing, and now that night had fallen it would only be getting colder. Noel saw that Lilly hadn't bothered to grab her coat, so she had to be cold, but there was no way Noel was going to say anything until Lilly had her chance to speak.

Lilly looked at Bobby Ray and then at Noel as she started to speak. "Before this weekend, Miley was super nervous about coming back here, because she wasn't sure how her family would react to her being with me. To our relationship." Lilly took a breath before she continued. "Everything was going great until Vickie's little tirade yesterday morning. She did everything up to calling Miley and me whores and telling us we were going to Hell. I was mad, but Miley was devastated. It took most of yesterday for her to get over that stab in the back, and _your_--" she pointed at Bobby Ray with that word-- "getting mad and walking out last night just opened that wound back up. She started crying again, and it took both me and her daddy to get her calmed down after that." Lilly was getting more and more angry, but she fought to keep her temper in check. "Now, you may hate me. You may hate us being in love. But that sweet, kind young woman in there is still your niece, and she always will be. _You_ are supposed to love her and respect her, and all I want is for you to do just that!" Lilly stopped, clenching and unclenching her fists in an attempt to defuse the rage building in her.

Noel prayed that Bobby Ray wouldn't lose his temper. She had indeed chewed him out last night, and he truly was sorry that he had reacted the way he did. But Lilly's getting angry might make things worse, she was afraid.

Bobby looked at Lilly, and it was so odd a sight that he nearly laughed. Here a small teenage girl, probably no more than one hundred or one-hundred-and-ten pounds, had just told him how it was going to be. On top of that, she looked mad as a hornet and ready to fight, despite the fact that Bobby was nearly twice her size. He silently extended his hand for her to shake.

Lilly eyed Bobby's hand warily. "What's that for?" she asked, her face still angry.

"If you feel that strongly 'bout Miley, then I'm not gonna say anything bad about either of ya. Heck, you look mad enough to fight a buzzsaw! I'm afraid you might whoop me if I did anything to make her cry again." His words matched his expression, serious but not overly so.

Lilly slowly took his hand and shook it. "I know this is really unexpected for you, but I'm tired of her own family making her cry. Especially with Christmas two days away. I want this to be a great memory for the two of us, and so far it has been, even with everything that's gone on."

Noel smiled and said, "Miley's lucky to have you protecting her honor, Lilly."

"She protects mine, too," Lilly said quickly. "That's what partners do."

"When are you planning on getting married?" Noel asked.

"Sometime after we turn eighteen, maybe sooner if we can talk our parents into it," Lilly replied as she opened the door. She let Bobby and Noel step inside, then she closed the door behind them.

Ruthie came over to the three of them and said, "Is everything alright?"

Bobby smiled and said, "Everything's great, Maw, now that this little wildcat's not fixin' to claw me up!" He playfully shook Lilly by her shoulder, then he walked into the living room to speak to everyone.

Lilly watched him go, then she quietly said to Ruthie and Noel, "This may not be very Christmas-y, but I'm sure glad Luanne isn't here. After everything else so far, I hate to think what she'd do."

Noel gave Lilly a startled look and said, "Have you met her?" When Lilly nodded her head, Noel said, "I never have. She wouldn't even talk to me on the phone when Bobby's called her."

Lilly said, "She's a real piece of work. Not sure why, but she seems to have it in for Miley. I think if I ever saw her again, I'd as soon punch her in the mouth as say hello."

Ruthie gently took Lilly by the elbow and said, "Lilly, do you have a minute? I have some things I think you need to hear." When Lilly nodded, Ruthie led her down the hall, all the way to Ruthie's room.

Miley watched Ruthie and Lilly go down the hall and had gotten up to follow them when the phone rang. "I got it!" she shouted over the voices of everyone talking at once and then went into the kitchen to answer the phone in there. "Stewart residence," she said cheerfully as she hit the Talk button on the handset.

"_Can I speak to Miley please?"_ the male voice on the phone said.

"This is Miley," she answered, trying to place the voice.

"_This is Todd Gentry. I think you remember me,"_ he said. _"I know who you really are. If you don't want me to tell everyone in that house what I know, you better get out here and talk to me right now. By yourself." _ The phone clicked as he ended the conversation.

Miley shuddered. _How did he found out I was Hannah Montana?_ she thought frantically. She looked around for Lilly but didn't see her. Her heart pounding, she grabbed her jacket and stepped outside, hoping no one would notice her absence until Lilly came back out from wherever she was. As she stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind her, she looked around. No one was on the porch. She looked around the yard, and finally saw someone standing by the barn.

She didn't want to go talk to him by herself, but she also didn't want her and Lilly's secret to be exposed. "Lilly, please hurry," she said out loud as she began walking to the barn.

Inside the house, Lilly went into Ruthie's room. Ruthie closed the door behind them and motioned for Lilly to sit in a chair in the corner. She herself sat on the end of the bed. "Lilly," Ruthie began, "I am about to tell you something that absolutely no one in this family knows, except for me."

Lilly felt a chill run down her back. Something was wrong with Miley. She shifted in her chair, fighting the urge to run out of this room and find Miley. However, she was intrigued by Ruthie's words. _A family secret? Why tell me?_ "Um, Ruthie, I... don't keep secrets from Miley. Well, we don't keep secrets from each other. We promised a while back."

Ruthie looked at Lilly with a stare that was unusually intense for the kindly woman Lilly was already thinking of as another grandmother. "This concerns Miley as well. And I'm telling you because I think you'll be unbiased when it comes time to tell certain people, including her." She sighed and slumped on the bed; suddenly, she seemed a decade older. "I've carried the burden of this knowledge around for almost twenty years, and it's taken its toll on me. Now it's time for me to tell someone else, someone I can trust, someone who'll let me explain before passing judgment."

Lilly listened as Ruthie told her, and what Ruthie said was so unexpected, so shocking, that Lilly was rendered speechless. _Oh my God_, Lilly thought, _this changes a LOT. _Suddenly she got sick to her stomach, and she knew she had to find Miley. _Something's wrong_, Lilly thought as she ran to the adjoining bathroom and threw up. She struggled to stand but made it to her feet before becoming dizzy._ Please be okay, Miley. I'm coming, I promise!_ As things became blurry, she leaned on the bathroom counter over the sink and ran some cold water into her hand so she could rinse her mouth out, fighting a war with her abrupt nausea.

Just a few minutes earlier, outside in the cold, Miley walked into the barn. Standing in the dark across the open section of the barn, she could see a shadowy figure waiting on her. "I'm out here, so this better be good. Lilly will be out here right after me, so don't even think of trying anything." It was a bluff, and Miley hoped no one called her on it. However, the voice that Miley heard was the last one she expected. It was also quite possibly the worst voice she could hear, because it sounded remarkably like her own.

"Me? Try something?" the voice said as the shadowy figure stepped forward, the light finally revealing someone who looked enough like Miley to be her twin, if an observer could overlook the anger and madness flashing in Luanne's eyes. "Why, my dear sweet cousin, what makes you think I'm going to try anything?" As she spoke, Todd slipped up behind Miley and grabbed her from behind. As Miley struggled, Luanne stepped forward, an evil smile on her face. "I'm _doing_, not trying," she said as she held up a scarf made into a gag.

**Author's Afterword:** Yeah, I know, cliffhangers. Sorry, but this was the perfect point to switch chapters. I apologize for this chapter taking so long to write, but it was really difficult finding time to work on it this last week. The next chapter should come more quickly, if life doesn't step in and kick me in the ribs again. Those of you getting ready for your final and/or semester exams, good luck, study hard, and have confidence in yourself! Hope my story helps you relax and keeps you in good spirits! See you soon, I promise.

-- Jo --


	17. Chapter 17: Hold On

**Author's Note:** I'm so proud that **jaywriter** is reading and enjoying my story! You do amazing Liley vids, and I love them all! Thank you to everyone who's enjoying this story, and extra-special thanks to those of you with kind reviews. Your nice words keep my writing inspiration stoked, because there are still lots of good Liley stories to tell even after this one is complete. I love all of you! For my standard disclaimers, please see Chapter 1.

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 17: Hold On

_Spin around, jump back, take another look at yourself_

_You've been hiding all alone on the shelf_

_Frozen, waiting for anyone to change your mind_

_Spin around, come down now 'cause it's all getting clear_

_Everything you've ever wanted to hear_

_Never needed anyone to change your mind_

-- Josie and the Pussycats; "Spin Around"

Miley watched as Luanne climbed the ladder up into the hayloft. Todd still held Miley tightly from behind, her arms pinned at her sides. "What are you doing, Luanne?" she yelled, hoping that someone would hear her.

At the top of the ladder, Luanne paused, then she neatly swung off the ladder and onto the floor of the hayloft. "Oh, Luanne," she said, "you already tried that trick last year, remember?" She grinned down at Miley. "Whatever you're up to, it's not going to work. We're going to leave you here until I've taken care of some business. This way you won't be able to hurt anyone, especially yourself." She nodded at Todd as she flicked a lighter to light a lantern she had already placed up in the hayloft earlier that day. Once it was lit, she carried it with her.

"Go on, get up there," Todd said, pushing Miley against the ladder. Miley started to refuse, but then she remembered that Todd thought she was Luanne. He wouldn't believe her if she tried to prove she was really Miley, and as much trouble as Luanne got Todd into growing up, he'd probably be willing to hurt her if pushed. Deciding that it was best to go along for now, Miley climbed the ladder. Once up in the hayloft, Miley noticed that Luanne circled around to interpose herself between Miley and the ladder.

"We need to have some girl talk, Todd, and that means privacy," Luanne said sweetly. "I need you to go wait outside. Take your light with you."

Todd obediently left the barn; Miley could see his flashlight dancing as he walked toward her Mamaw's house. _Oh no! Was he going to do something to Lilly too?_ Miley turned to look at Luanne. "So what's your big master plan this time, cousin?"

Luanne looked at Miley and pulled a medium-sized knife, shaped like a hunting knife, out of her backpack resting on the floor of the hayloft. She placed the lantern on the floor next to the ladder and took a few steps toward Miley as she pulled the knife from its sheath.

Miley swallowed as what little light there was from the lantern was reflected by the blade of the knife. "You're crazy, Luanne!" she said, then immediately regretted it. _Way to go Stewart, piss off the sociopath holding the butcher knife who hates you. THAT'S a smart play_.

"Strip," Luanne said, a hard look on her face. "And toss your clothes over here."

Miley stepped back deeper into the shadows, thick in the dimly lit hayloft. _Be careful here_, she thought as she tried to stay calm. _Play along, wait for Lilly to realize that something's wrong, and give her what she wants._ Miley made sure to watch Luanne at all times while she took off first her sweater, then her boots, and jeans. She tossed the clothes to Luanne and stood there facing her, freezing in just her thin shirt, bra, panties and socks.

Luanne motioned her cousin toward a large beam in the center of the hayloft. "Back there," she said. "Put your back against the beam."

Miley breathed a sigh of relief. She stepped backward as Luanne demanded, placing her back firmly against the beam and holding her arms down at her sides. Luanne pulled a length of nylon rope from her backpack and walked over to where Miley stood. She walked behind Miley and said, "If you try anything, I'll make you regret it." Satisfied that Miley would put up no resistance, Luanne set the knife down on a bale of hay beside her, making sure that Miley didn't see or hear what she had done. She then grabbed Miley's wrists and pulled them back around the beam, then she quickly tied them together. She checked Miley's arms to see if she was flexing her muscles and tightened the ropes tighter in case she was. After a few knots to hold her cousin there, Luanne picked her knife back up and walked in front of Miley again. "Cold enough for you?" Luanne asked Miley, a wicked grin on her face.

"How did you get out of that military school?" Miley asked, shivering. "I mean, I checked the tracker they put in--" She stopped, afraid she had said too much.

Luanne took off her coat and her shirt and showed her right forearm to Miley. A long scar ran along the length of her right forearm, with a portion of it more reddish than the rest of it. "Took me a while to figure out how they knew where I was all the time, but once I faked an injury and got an x-ray of my arm, I could see it pretty clear. Once I had that, it was just a matter of getting it out. Just under the skin, after all. They told me it was one of the screws from the surgery."

"But how did you..." Miley asked, trailing off as Luanne held up the knife and grinned.

"Didn't hurt too bad," Luanne said coldly. "I've done worse to myself, believe me." She turned her arm in another direction to reveal several more scars along her arm, running in haphazard directions. "I put it in my roommate's purse, just so it looked like I was going to class still."

The freezing air was slightly warmer in the top of the hayloft than on the ground floor of the barn, but it was still below freezing, and Miley was feeling the intense cold sharply. As she watched her cousin begin taking off her own pants, Miley said, "So what's your big plan? Go in and pretend you're me?" Not getting a response, Miley said loudly, "The second Lilly tries to touch you or does touch you, she'll know you're not me!"

Luanne slipped Miley's sweater over her own bra and fixed Miley with a glare. "Then I guess I'll just have to make sure she doesn't touch me, won't I? But then, I expect she'll be too busy dealing with poor, deluded little Todd." She stepped into Miley's jeans and sat down as she pulled on her boots.

Miley didn't like the sound of that. "Todd was always a sweet boy. What have you done to him?" she yelled.

Luanne stood and walked closer to Miley. "Oh, I just told him about how cruel and abusive Lilly _really_ was to you. I mean, to me." She grabbed Miley's face with her right hand and held her firmly. "He's really angry about it. After all, he is in love with me. I mean, with you." She released Miley and shook her head as she turned around. "It's all confusing enough," she said as she picked her knife back up. She placed it back in its sheath and settled it in the back of her jeans.

Miley seized this opportunity for one last attempt at reason. Her teeth were beginning to chatter as she said, "Luanne, please don't do this! If you're mad at me for whatever reason, then take it out on me! Not on Lilly!" As she screamed the last part, she began crying. Lilly was going to suffer for whatever sick reason Luanne hated her, and there was nothing Miley could do about it.

Luanne stopped at the ladder and turned around slowly. She walked back over to where Miley was tied up and pulled out her knife, holding the four-inch blade up so it was directly in Miley's face. "You'd let me hurt you to protect her?" she asked incredulously.

Miley nodded, careful not to bring her head too close to the knife.

Luanne gently poked Miley's left cheek with the tip of the knife. "You'd sacrifice yourself to keep me from hurting her?"

Without moving her head, Miley firmly said, "Absolutely," holding Luanne's gaze with her own steely blue eyes. "I'd give up anything to protect her. I love her."

Luanne stared as the tears ran down Miley's cheeks. _She's not kidding. She'd let me kill her to keep her little girlfriend safe._ She whispered, "And they call _me_ crazy." She jerked the knife away from her cousin's face and turned her back on her as she walked to the ladder. "No deal," she stated flatly.

As Luanne climbed down the ladder, Miley broke down in sobs. She was tied up, nearly naked, freezing to death, unable to warn or help Lilly while her homicidal cousin and her helper were coming for her. What could she do? _Oh God Lilly, if you can hear me, please be careful!_

At precisely that time, Lilly became violently sick while talking to Ruthie and ran to the bathroom to vomit. After throwing up, Lilly was certain something was wrong with Miley. _Please be okay, Miley. I'm coming, I promise! _ The room became blurry and spun as she stood, and she had to lean on the counter to keep from falling. She turned on the cold water and ran some of into her hand, rubbing it on her face and rinsing her mouth out with it. Cautiously, she tried to stand again. As the dizziness tried to claim her a second time, she steeled herself against it. _Miley is in trouble, and I'm not going to let some stupid dizzy spell stop me from finding her._ She walked out of the bathroom.

As Ruthie stood and walked over to her, she said, "I'm sorry to burden you with this Lilly, but someone else had to know. Someone who could tell the truth when the time is right." As she looked at Lilly's pale face, she said, "I didn't think it would upset you this much. I'm sorry--" She was cut off by Lilly gently grabbing her shoulders.

"Ruthie, what you told me was a total shock, but right now there's something wrong with Miley." She tapped her fingers over her heart as she said with a wavering voice, "I can feel it, in here." She smiled and said, "So thank you for trusting me with this, but right now I have to find Miley." Without waiting for an answer, Lilly turned and walked out of the room.

As Lilly strode down the hall, she tried to think about what could be going on out here that would upset Miley so much. She walked back into the living room, and her eyes were caught by the newcomer in the room. He was taller than Lilly but appeared about her age. As their eyes met, Lilly was surprised by the sudden glare of anger in them as he sized her up.

The boy had been talking to Miley's family, so he obviously knew them. But Lilly had more important things to worry about. Like, where was Miley? She had been in here right before Lilly went to talk to Ruthie. So where had she gone? "Um, excuse me, but," Lilly said loudly to be heard over the conversation in the room, "where's Miley?"

Everyone looked around except for one person, the young man Lilly didn't know. Lilly turned her gaze back to him as he stood across the living room, next to Jackson. "Do you know where Miley is?" Lilly asked cautiously.

"Maybe," he said as he looked back at Lilly. "But I know where she _doesn't_ want to be, and that's with you!" he said loudly.

"Excuse me?" Lilly said angrily as she put her hands on her hips.

Dolly stepped in between Lilly and Todd before they could say anything else. "Lilly, this is Todd Gentry. He and his family live up the road a ways. He and Miley and Jackson all grew up together." Dolly turned to Todd and said, "Todd, this is Lilly Truscott, Miley's--"

"I know who she is!" Todd said loudly. The expression on his face suggested he was about to explode as he said, "She's the filthy dyke who's beating the hell out of Miley every night!"

Lilly was astounded at his words, and it took her several seconds to catch her breath. "What did you just say?" she said, her own anger rising at his words.

"I think you heard me," Todd said. "Or is our Tennessee accent too hard for you California whores to understand?"

Lilly started across the room toward Todd, only to be restrained by Robbie Ray. "I've NEVER been mean to Miley, and I never could! I love her with all my heart, with all my life! Something's wrong with her, and you've got something to do with it, I know it!"

Todd quickly rushed across the living room and raised his hand back to slap Lilly, only to find it grabbed from behind. He turned and saw Jackson holding him back with surprising strength. "If you touch her, Todd, then I'll make you regret it," Jackson said, his face devoid of humor or kindness. "I've seen how Lilly and Miley love each other, and there's no way my future sister-in-law could ever do anything hurtful to Miley. You'd better start explainin' why you're sayin' some of these things you're sayin' before I forget we used to be friends."

Todd turned to face Jackson when the slamming of the front door forestalled further discussion. Everyone looked over to see Miley standing right inside the door, her face flushed.

"Where you been, darlin'?" Robbie Ray said to Miley. "Lilly was afraid something had happened to you, 'cause nobody knew where you'd run off to."

Deep inside, things still weren't right. Lilly knew it, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly why.

Out in the barn, Miley had started to go numb several minutes ago. She was shivering and her teeth were chattering, but she knew from her Health class that these were good things, an attempt by her body to maintain her temperature by making her muscles work. However, she also knew her body was losing that battle. It was becoming harder and harder to focus her thoughts. _I've got to hang on. Have to... What do I have to do? Oh yeah, stay awake. I can do that. I think._

Her head dropped suddenly, startling her back into wakefulness. _I can't fall asleep! I've got to hang on for Lilly._ She felt her body stir, one final attempt to stay awake. She noted that while her hands were tied behind the support beam, she wasn't exactly tied in a standing position. She tried to squat, and her numb legs began to scream in protest as she succeeded. She then stood up, and she could feel some of the circulation begin to work again. _Am I just speeding up the heat loss by putting blood back into my legs?_ She shook off any further internal debate about morbid details. _ I'm going to do whatever it takes to stay alive for Lilly. She and I have a future together, we're going to have a family together, and I am NOT letting Luanne take that away from me!_

She began doing squats slowly, trying to not wear herself out. However, physical fitness wasn't exactly Miley's strong suit, and she knew it. The squats quickly became a struggle that her cold, aching limbs couldn't sustain any longer, and before long she tried to squat and instead fell to the ground as her legs buckled. She shifted her legs to pull them against her chest, trying feebly to conserve what little warmth she could. "Please hurry, Lilly," she said softly as her eyes closed, against her will.

Back inside the house, Ruthie came back into the living room just then and said, "What's goin' on here? What's all the hoopin' and hollerin' about?"

Lilly stepped around Robbie Ray, keeping him between herself and Todd. "Miley?" she asked hesitantly. "Are you okay, sweetheart?" She slowly walked toward Miley, only to have Miley scream and run to Jackson and Todd.

"Don't touch me!" Miley screamed hysterically. She grabbed onto Todd and held fast. "You've done enough to me! All the yelling, and the beatings, and the--" She gasped for breath, then she added, "And you... touching me in unnatural ways." She shook her head. "You're never going to hurt me again!"

Lilly started crying as she screamed, "Why are you saying this? None of that is true and you know it!" Her mind was whirling as it tried to catch up with what was being said and what Lilly knew was true. And still, something _else _was wrong. "I'd never hurt you," Lilly said, tears streaming down her face. "I'd rather die than hurt you, Miley! I love you! Just like I know you love me!" Her heart was pounding and the room began to spin as her eyesight dimmed. She fell to her knees, not able to hide the heartbreak obvious on her face as she sobbed. "Why are you doing this?" she said weakly, just barely audible.

Todd started forward, only to be restrained by Miley. Instead, she stepped forward, moving closer to Lilly. "Why am I doing this?" she said. "Because you deserve to be hurt. Just like you hurt me."

As the words came out of her mouth, Lilly couldn't look her in the face. But something about the way she said the last sentence... Something was different. After four years of friendship and close to a year of being lovers, she knew every expression, every walk, every look of Miley's. Just like she knew every tone of Miley's voice, be it spoken or sung. And that last sentence was most definitely _not_ Miley speaking it. "Luanne," Lilly said, so faint no one but herself could hear it.

Lilly exploded from the floor, catching Luanne completely off guard as she slammed her shoulder into her stomach, not stopping until she had slammed Luanne against the wall. "You are not my Miley!" Lilly screamed as she spun Luanne around and shoved her head against the wall, keeping her pinned. "Tell them, Luanne! Tell them who you really are!" Lilly screamed.

Todd ran over toward Lilly, but this time it wasn't Jackson who stopped him. Robbie Ray grabbed him by his jacket and threw him to the floor, standing over him. "If you're innocent here Todd, then I'll apologize later. But I was wrong about Luanne once before, and I won't risk makin' that mistake again." He turned to look at Lilly, still keeping Luanne pinned against the wall despite her struggles. Luanne was taller than Lilly, but Lilly had braced her legs and was using their strength to keep Luanne pinned against the wall.

"She's crazy!" Luanne screamed. "Someone, please help me!"

"Shut up, Luanne," Lilly said. "I can prove you're not Miley!" She yelled back over her shoulder to Jackson. "Jackson! C'mere!" Jackson hurried over to Lilly, waiting for further instructions. "Lift up the back of my shirt," Lilly said. Jackson did so, revealing a large dark brown tattoo reading

**PROPERTY OF MILEY**

"Miley has the matching one," Lilly said with a smile. "We had them done the day before we left Malibu, just in case Luanne tried something like this." She stole a look back at Robbie Ray. "And before you freak out, Mr. S, they're henna tattoos. Only temporary." She turned to look back at Luanne, who was still struggling. Shifting her grip on Luanne, Lilly reached down and jerked up the back of her sweater and shirt, revealing absolutely nothing on her lower back. "How about that?" she said. "No tattoo here."

The entire room was silent except for Luanne's grunts as she tried to escape. "Are you going to believe this crazy bitch?" she screamed. "It's a trick!"

Lilly released Luanne's shirt and instead grabbed her left arm, pulling it sharply behind her back. "You tell me where Miley is, Luanne, or I swear to God I'll break your arm!" she yelled in Luanne's ear. But Luanne was silent.

The pop of Luanne's left shoulder dislocating was followed immediately by her high-pitched shriek of pain. "Tell me!" Lilly screamed again, and there was no doubting she would do whatever it took to save her best friend, whom she loved with all of her heart and soul.

"Hayloft..." Luanne gasped out. She fell to the floor as Lilly dropped her instantly and ran out the front door, not bothering to grab her coat or anything as she ran at full speed toward the barn.

As Lilly bolted through the mist that had settled over the valley, she numbly noted that while much of the snow had indeed melted, there was still enough to see several recent sets of footprints between the house and the barn. Ignoring the biting cold and the tingle of the moist mist against her face, Lilly ran with all the adrenaline-fueled speed she could muster. She burst into the open area of the barn and immediately saw a light up in the hayloft.

"MILEY!" she screamed as she ran over to the ladder. She ascended the ladder quickly, and when she saw her fiancée slumped half-naked against one of the support beams, the blood in her veins ran colder than she thought possible.

"Oh no no no," she mumbled as she ran over to Miley's still figure. "Oh please God, please let her be alive," Lilly said as the tears fought to escape from her eyes. She knelt down beside Miley and put her arms around her, holding her tightly as she whispered, "Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive."

"Hey... Lil," Miley muttered weakly, startling Lilly.

"Miley!" Lilly said, kissing Miley's face repeatedly but not letting her go. "I was afraid--" She stopped. "I thought I'd lost you," she spoke as her voice cracked.

"So cold..." Miley said. "Bag... Over there..." She jerked her head toward the lantern.

Lilly turned and looked, spotting the bag. As she leaped up and ran to the bag, she also saw Luanne's clothes, discarded there. She grabbed both of them plus the lantern and ran over to Miley. She dropped the bag beside Miley and placed the lantern close to the support beam, hoping that some of its warmth would help fight off the bitter cold biting into both of them. Lilly took Luanne's coat and draped it over Miley's side opposite the lantern to allow the heat to reach her shivering girlfriend. Lilly began to work on the knots holding Miley against the post, but at this point her fingers were starting to tingle. Still, she hurried, smiling as she got the last knot undone. She eased Miley down to the floor and covered her with a blanket she saw in Luanne's bag.

"What the hell are you doing?" screeched a voice from the direction of the ladder. Lilly looked over and felt her heart nearly stop again. Standing there was Luanne, favoring her left arm but holding her knife in her right hand. "Get away from her!" she screamed at Lilly.

Lilly stood and moved to put herself between Luanne and Miley. "How do you keep coming back?" she asked incredulously.

"David popped my shoulder back into place for me. Hurts like hell, but I can use my arm at least." She pointed the knife at Lilly. "And don't plan on any help from your family," she sneered. "I chained the back door before I went in there, and I had a chair by the front door as well. Once I got past them, I jammed the door with the chair. They'll have to bust a window out to get outside fast, and nobody wants to do that to Mamaw's house. I figure it'll take 'em ten, fifteen minutes to get a window out without bustin' it. Plenty of time for me to deal with you."

Lilly swallowed against a dry throat as she slowly stepped in a semicircle around Luanne, keeping Luanne's eyes on her and not on Miley. "You don't have to do this, Luanne. Whatever you're mad about, we can get past it, I swear it," Lilly said, hoping that some sense of sanity remained inside Luanne. "You're not going to get away with this. Everyone in that house knows you're behind this, and you've got nowhere to run. I bet even Todd will be wanting to kill you now that he knows the truth." Lilly paused, hoping her words were getting through. "Put the knife down, Luanne. Let's work this out without anyone else getting hurt."

Surprisingly, Luanne did indeed pause, her expression turning sad for a moment. "It's too late," Luanne said, her voice oddly subdued. "Too late for this to be fixed."

Lilly shook her head. "No, Luanne, it's not. It's never too late as long as we're alive."

Even in the dim light cast off by the lantern, Lilly could see the tears rolling down Luanne's cheeks. "I died a long time ago," Luanne said as she looked down at the knife in her right hand. She gazed at it almost like she had no idea how it came to be in her hand, and during that time Lilly gently moved closer to Luanne.

"Luanne, you have a family inside that house over there," Lilly said, making her voice as gentle and kind as she could. "You have family _here_, Luanne. With Miley... and me."

Luanne looked up at Lilly and realized how close Lilly had gotten. "My family left me!" she screamed. "Miley was the last one, but she moved away and left me too!" Luanne's face became angry again. "She left me to get screamed at, and hit, and kicked, and abandoned! To clean up my dad's puke and shit every time he came home too drunk to tell which room was the bathroom! She was the last one who cared about me, and _she left __me too_!" Luanne looked back down at the knife in her hand and shifted her grip on it. "Everybody left me," she said softly.

When she looked back up at Lilly, her expression was different, and Lilly suddenly knew what she was going to do. She had seen the same look of defeat on Miley's face on only a few occasions, but it was one that Lilly clearly remembered. "No, Luanne!" Lilly screamed as Luanne raised the knife to her own throat. Lilly bolted across the short span of boards separating her from Luanne and slammed into Luanne solidly, knocking the knife from her grip.

As the knife clattered on the wooden floor, Luanne and Lilly wrestled on the ground. "Why did you stop me?" Luanne shrieked at Lilly. "What do you care if I live or die?" she screamed as she drove her knee into Lilly's stomach, leaving Lilly gasping for breath. Luanne rolled and lunged toward the knife. However, before she could reach her target, a metallic clicking sound made her freeze in place. She looked up at the figure standing over her.

"Look what I found," Miley said as she held the revolver pointed at Luanne's head. "Next time you shouldn't leave your gun in your bag," she said with a cold voice eerily similar to Luanne's. "You threatened to kill Lilly, and you left me for dead. I'm not giving you another chance to hurt us."

Luanne didn't speak. Instead she closed her eyes and remained kneeling in front of Miley, waiting for the end to her suffering. _Will it hurt? Or will it just be over?_

"NO!" Lilly screamed as she struggled to her feet.

Miley looked at Lilly then quickly looked back at Luanne, but her cousin made no attempt to escape or even move. "What?" she said to Lilly. "Why shouldn't I kill her right now?"

Lilly walked over to Miley and said, "Because she's your twin sister, Miley."

**Author's Afterword:** Ho ho, how's THAT for a plot twist? I promise, the next chapter will explain, and I'll post it by tomorrow night so everyone doesn't have to wait too long for it. Hope everyone is still loving the story, because we're fast approaching the end!

-- Jo --


	18. Chapter 18: Deeper Than Deep

**Author's Note:** Okay, as promised, here's the next chapter. Again, it's a bit shorter than the other chapters, but I wanted to get this posted as soon as possible so as not to torture anyone further. Hope you enjoy it, and good luck to those of you taking your finals! Hope this puts you in a great mood and makes the time go faster for you! For my standard disclaimers, please see Chapter 1.

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 18: Deeper Than Deep

_Time will tell_

_A single day could help me_

_Break this spell_

_Don't wanna be alone_

_When will I be understood_

_When is my kingdom to come?_

-- Cascada; "Ready For Love"

It was totally silent in the hayloft atop the barn following Lilly's revelation, until Miley exclaimed, "Love of my life say what?!"

Lilly glanced at Luanne, whose eyes had shot open at Lilly's statement, then she looked back into her girlfriend's eyes. "I'll tell you the rest of this—both of you—but we have to get inside first, before you freeze to death, Miles."

Luanne looked up at Lilly and Miley, and for the first time in years, Miley could see hope in her cousin's eyes. Luanne silently nodded as she stood, then looked at Lilly. "Get the knife, Lilly," she said. "Because if I get it, I can't--" She stopped abruptly. "I can't trust myself to not do anything stupid."

Lilly cautiously walked over and got the knife and the lantern. She moved to the ladder and began making her way down the ladder cautiously. It was tricky with only having one hand completely free, but she wasn't leaving anything Luanne could use as a weapon, even if Miley did have a gun pointed at her. Once she was on the ground, Lilly set the lantern down away from the ladder and stepped between it and the ladder. "Alright Luanne, come down here. Nice and slow," she said.

Luanne slowly made her way down the ladder. Once she was on the ground, she moved away from the ladder and sat down without saying a word. To Lilly, it seemed like all the anger that had fueled her for so long had simply gone away, leaving her empty inside. Lilly looked up at Miley and nodded. Miley began to climb down the ladder, the blanket still draped across her shoulders. Lilly noticed that Miley had Luanne's backpack slung over one shoulder as well. As Miley reached the ground, the sound of someone running toward them became evident. Lilly moved to stand beside Miley underneath the blanket, supporting her exhausted girlfriend as best as she could and giving her as much warmth as possible.

Robbie Ray and Jackson burst into the open area of the barn, both coming to an abrupt stop as they saw Miley and Lilly huddled together under a large blanket, with Luanne sitting on the ground quietly. "Dadblame, you caused us a lot a' trouble, Luanne!" Robbie Ray said angrily. "You better have a key for whatever you tied that back door shut with!"

"It was a chain. Key's in my backpack," Luanne said, never lifting her head to make eye contact.

Lilly tugged Miley forward to Robbie Ray. "Mr. Stewart, Miley needs to get inside NOW. She nearly froze to death out here, and she might have frostbite!" Robbie Ray immediately picked Miley up as Lilly wrapped the blanket snugly around her, then he began running back to his mother's house. Lilly turned to Jackson and said, "Mind to help me walk Luanne back inside?"

"It'd be my pleasure, Sis," Jackson replied with a smile.

The simple expression of happiness triggered a similar smile from Lilly as well. _Miley's safe, Luanne's caught, and... Crap. Now I have to explain all this to the two of them. Oh well, they need to hear it. Both of them. Then we can decide how to handle this._ "Okay Luanne, let's get inside too. Not getting any warmer out here," she said.

As the three of them made their way back to the house, there was quite a stir of activity around the house. The outside lights were all on, with several people scurrying back and forth outside. However, the one person Lilly was looking for was inside, so she ignored everyone else for the time being. "Inside, Luanne," she said as they reached the steps to the front porch. As they climbed the steps and stepped onto the porch, they met Robbie Ray coming back outside, a key in his hand. Lilly stopped and gave him a hug. "Thanks, Mr. Stewart," she said as she held him tightly. As she released him, Lilly caught a glimpse of Luanne watching her from several feet away. The look in Luanne's eyes was a mixture of longing and regret, and it nearly broke Lilly's tender heart to see it, even if it was Luanne. Lilly walked over to Luanne, but she refrained from touching her. However, she did allow herself to smile softly at Luanne as she said, "We need to talk."

Luanne nodded. "Inside? So Miley can hear?"

Lilly said, "Yes." She turned back to Jackson, who was saying something to Robbie Ray. As they finished, Robbie Ray walked off the porch to unchain the back door, and Jackson turned back to face Lilly and Luanne. "Jackson, mind to make sure we've got some privacy once we get in here?"

"Sure," Jackson said. He quickly stepped over to Lilly and gave her a hug. "I'm glad she's okay," he said as he held Lilly tightly, patting her back.

"Me too," said Lilly, holding back tears. _Time to cry later,_ she told herself. _Get through this first. Find Miley and make sure she gets warm._ "Okay, let's get inside. After you, Luanne."

As the three of them entered the house again, things looked almost normal. The little boys and girls were playing near the fire as their daddies watched football. Their mommies and Ruthie were sitting on the couch talking to Todd, who looked singularly ashamed. As Luanne, Lilly and Jackson stepped into the house, Todd stood and started to walk over to them, but an outstretched hand from Lilly stopped him.

"Don't!" Lilly said, her voice hard as steel. "Not now." She turned away from him as she guided Luanne down the hall to the bedroom that she and Miley were using this trip. Lilly opened the door, and relief filled her entire body as she saw Miley under the covers but watching the door intensely. Lilly rushed inside and fell to her knees next to the bed as she hugged and kissed Miley. Lilly started to cry, but Miley kissed her warmly, putting a halt to the tears.

"I'm okay, Lilly," Miley said. "All the feelin' is comin' back in my fingers and toes, and I'm gonna be okay. I know it."

Lilly blinked away her tears as a brilliant smile filled her face. "I was so afraid, Miley," she said. "When I saw you sitting on the floor, and you weren't moving, I--" She stopped and closed her eyes. "I thought you were dead, and that we'd never have our family!" she blurted out. She opened her eyes again and saw Miley's eyes had turned red from unshed tears.

"But you saved me, Lilly," Miley said with a smile of her own. "I kept tellin' myself, I had to hold on for you. For us. For our family. And that kept me goin', even when my body wanted to just give up."

Jackson's voice interrupted the heartfelt conversation. "Are you two gonna be okay with, um..." He jerked his head toward Luanne, who had sat down in the chair across the room from the bed.

Lilly turned to look at Luanne, who was watching her and Miley with mild interest but no sign of hostility that Lilly could detect. "I think we'll be okay," she told Jackson. "But stay close, okay?"

"Can do, Sis," Jackson replied as he closed the door.

Miley looked at Lilly, getting an amused look in return. "Okay girlfriend, you got some serious explainin' to do!" she said excitedly. "But first, I'm still cold," she said, a hungry look on her face.

Lilly knew that Miley needed physical contact between the two of them, not necessarily in a sexual way, and truthfully Lilly needed it as well. Lilly turned to look at Luanne. "Luanne, scoot the chair over here, please," she said as she stood up. She took off her boots and socks, then she slid under the covers. Once there, she slipped off her shirt and jeans, tossing them in the floor. She left her bra and panties on just in case Luanne decided to try something. Once adequately prepared, she scooted next to Miley, who wrapped herself around Lilly as tightly as possible as the two of them sat up in the bed, pillows propped up behind them. Even now Miley was still cold to the touch. Lilly shivered as she thought about how close the two of them had come to being separated.

Luanne stood up and moved to sit on the foot of the bed, pulling her legs up onto the bed to sit cross-legged. Lilly felt Miley shiver at how close her cousin was to them, so she said, "Shhh, it's okay Miles." Lilly took a deep breath and began.

"Back when your mom had her first ultrasound, Miley, the doctor thought he saw twins. But a second ultrasound only found one heartbeat. At least that's what they thought. Now, it was a coincidence that both your mom and Luanne's--" Lilly paused. "Sorry. I mean, that both Robbie Ray's wife and Bobby Ray's wife got pregnant at the same time and went into labor the same time. The two of them had become really good friends through their pregnancies, and when they both went into labor, they wanted to be in the same delivery room so they could be there for each other.

"Now, the two of them had decided that it would be too weird for their husbands to be in there with the two of them, so instead they had asked Ruthie to be there. But as the labors progressed, there were... problems. The ultrasounds hadn't shown any problems early on, and neither of them was considered to be high-risk. But as the two women got close to the babies being born, Bobby's wife Anne started bleeding really badly. Ruthie told me there was something wrong with the placenta, and that it tore loose during the contractions. The doctor wasn't there yet, so they called him, but Anne and the baby were dying. The nurses tried to slow Brooke's labor down so the doctor could focus completely on Anne once he got there a few minutes later, but there was nothing he could do. Both Anne and her baby died."

Luanne was looking intensely at Lilly and Miley as the two of them both held each other tightly. Miley noticed that tears were forming in Luanne's eyes. It was the first time she had seen her cry in years. "That's horrible, Lilly," Miley said, her throat dry.

Lilly nodded. "Just then, your mom started to deliver, Miley. You were born without any problems, but the pain was too much for your mom, and she passed out. While they gave her oxygen and starting taking care of you, one nurse and the doctor saw that she was about to give birth to a second baby. They hurried to get a second warmer for you, Luanne, but you came on out right as they got a second one ready.

"While Brooke was unconscious, Ruthie made a decision that she told me she'd regretted for years. She had seen one of her sons lose both his wife and his baby girl, while her other son had a second baby girl he and his wife had known nothing about. So she asked the doctor and nurses to instead say that you, Luanne, had been born right as Anne died, but that you were healthy. That way Bobby Ray wouldn't have to mourn the death of both his wife _and_ his daughter. He'd have a daughter that looked just like Robbie Ray's, but the two of them were twins, too. People wouldn't be too suspicious if their daughters looked just like each other. All the nurses and the doctor had been shaken up by what had happened, so they agreed to do it to spare Bobby Ray what pain they could. But what Ruthie hadn't counted on was what losing Anne would do to Bobby Ray. He had never been a violent man, but Anne's death broke him inside, somehow."

Luanne spoke up then, saying, "It made him angry and resentful." Miley and Lilly turned to look at Luanne again, both surprised by her joining the conversation. Luanne continued without looking at either of them. "As far back as I can remember, I wanted my daddy to love me, and some of the time he did. But other times, he'd get so quiet..." She trailed off and looked away. "I found out later he had started drinking, and he'd get quiet to try and hide it. But before long, he quit trying to hide it from me. That's when he started hitting me. It was just really hard spankings at first, but then I started getting them for no reason. I tried to figure out what I was doing wrong, but--" She stopped as the sobs began, rendering her incapable of further speech.

Lilly and Miley looked at each other and leaned slightly forward, reaching out toward Luanne. As they gently touched her shoulders, Luanne raised her head back up and said, "I tried to be good! I really did, for a long time! But I could never be good enough, not for him!"

"So you decided to be mean, instead," Miley said gently as she rubbed Luanne's shoulder.

Luanne nodded as she looked at the young woman she had always thought of as her cousin until now. "When I was around you, Miley, something was different. I felt like I belonged with your family. I felt as happy as I had even been when I was with you. That was why I wasn't as mean to you. But then you left to go to Nashville."

Miley said, "Luanne, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that he was doing... that to you. I mean, I wondered why you acted that way, but I never knew his drinking was that bad. You always acted like you were so tough that nothing could ever bother you, I mean."

Luanne smiled, but this time it didn't seem quite so cruel. "When you live through hell at home, everything else seems easy in comparison," she said. "But I was alone after you and your family left." She looked off. "I guess I've always been alone, in some way or another. And now my dad has apparently quit drinking, but I can't even bring myself to so much as look at him!" She looked at Miley and said, "I was going to cut his brake lines tonight. Not all the way through, but enough that they'd go out before long. I wasn't exactly trying to kill him, but I wanted him to hurt. Like how I hurt all those years that I put up with him."

"But you could have killed Noel!" Lilly said. "She's done nothing to hurt you!"

"She chose _him_!" Luanne said hotly. "She chose to live with him," she said a bit more softly. "Even knowing what he had done, she chose him."

"I don't know if she knows about all that or not," Miley said hesitantly. "I mean, I never knew anything about him hurting you until you told us, just now."

Lilly added, "She might not know anything more than he used to drink really badly. Weren't you already in that military school when she met him?"

Luanne looked at Lilly, and for a moment Lilly could feel the heat of her glare. But then Luanne's eyes softened, and she said, "Yeah, I was." She looked at Lilly and said, "Lilly, why did you stop Miley from killing me? Why did you stop me from killing _myself_?"

Lilly looked closely at Luanne as she thought about her answer. _Funny thing about identical twins_, she thought, _they're not really identical. Not if you know what to look for_. While the physical similarities were quite compelling, there was a harshness in Luanne's eyes that simply wasn't there in Miley's. Miley also had a way of turning up the corners of her mouth when she smiled, while Luanne's mouth turned in a different manner. There were over a dozen minor details that Lilly could see between the two of them now that she had time to assess Luanne more closely, but beyond those simple physical differences was something Lilly couldn't describe. Not exactly. It was a feeling that Lilly had when she was close to Miley, like she was on a roller coaster that was just about to reach the top of a long climb. It was a feeling of anticipation, of joy, of freedom that Lilly had never found anywhere else. And she knew Miley felt the same way around her.

Lilly squeezed Miley tightly as she carefully thought about how to phrase her answer. Finally, she said, "There are lots of reasons why, Luanne. Because you're Miley's sister. Because you're going to be my sister-in-law. Because I couldn't let Miley live with killing you or even just letting you die, even if she'd have only done it to save me. Because you deserve a chance to be happy. Because you deserve to know you're not alone." Lilly took Luanne's hand and held it firmly. "Not if you don't want to be."

Luanne's eyes were red as the sunset from all the tears as she held Lilly's gaze. She squeezed Lilly's hand tightly in return. "I don't want to be alone any more," she said with a soft voice that sounded oddly like a little girl's. She looked at Miley. "But I'm not sure I'm ready for a... a sister. Not yet." She then looked at Lilly and added, "And I'm not ready for a sister-in-law, either." She shook her head as she said, "I have some... problems I have to deal with first. I know that." She sniffed as she wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "I've had nothing but anger for so long, I'm not sure how to feel anything else." She idly traced the scars hidden beneath the sleeves of Miley's sweater as she said, "And it's just as easy to be angry with myself as it is with anyone else. Sometimes it's easier. Bleeding stops and bruises fade with time. But these scars... They're always there, always reminding us of what happened to us in the past. They're like reminders we can never leave behind."

Lilly spoke up, her voice kind and clear. "But scars do fade with time and care, Luanne." She tried to catch Luanne's gaze, but Luanne avoided looking directly at her. "And mistakes are only tragic if we don't learn anything from them."

Miley turned to look at Lilly. "Where did you hear that?" she asked her girlfriend.

"Read it in a magazine last week," Lilly quickly answered. "But it's still true!" she added as both Miley and Luanne started laughing. The sound of the two of them laughing triggered a sense of relief inside Lilly. She knew that a corner had been turned between the three of them. There was still going to be a long way to go and many things remained to be dealt with, but now there was hope for Luanne where hours before there was none.

As if reading Lilly's mind, Luanne now looked at her and Miley and said, "Thank you. Both of you." She looked down, then she lifted her eyes back up. "I'm sorry for what I tried to do to the two of you," she said. "I saw how happy you were with each other, and I couldn't stand it. I resented that you got to know your mother, Miley, while I never did. I wanted to make everyone hurt like I had, because I thought that would make us all the same somehow. But now, I look back on how much of my life I've wasted on hate and anger these last few years..." She didn't start crying again, but tears began to trickle slowly down her cheeks as she continued. "I could have done something else with my life. I might have been able to find someone who would have been good to me. I wouldn't ask for him to love me, just to not be mean to me. But now I've wasted these last few years, and I have absolutely nothing to show for it."

Miley said, "You have your life. And you have your family."

"How can you still call me that?" Luanne asked incredulously. "After everything I tried to do to you and to Lilly?"

Miley sighed. Luanne still didn't get it, but maybe that wasn't entirely her fault. "Luanne, even when I thought you were my cousin, you were always my family. You always have been."

"And that made you my family, too," Lilly added.

"We were always here for you, Luanne," Miley said. "All you had to do was ask."

Luanne wiped her eyes with her fingers. "I guess..." she said. "I guess I'm asking now," she got out before she leaned forward and met Miley and Lilly in a hug that left all three of them crying. "Please forgive me," she whispered.

"Of course," Miley said as Lilly just nodded against Luanne's shoulder. "We love you, Luanne. We always have."

"Well," Lilly said, "I didn't love you when you tried to tell everybody Miley was really Hannah Montana."

"Lilly!" Miley said lightly.

"Well, it's true," Lilly said. "Just being honest."

Luanne laughed. It felt odd, laughing twice in a day, but it felt good too. "I think honesty is what we all need, Lilly. So thank you, I guess," she said. "I promise to get some help this time. I want to get to know my family again." She leaned back but didn't let go of Miley or Lilly. "And I want to get to know my sister and her girlfriend, too."

Miley suddenly realized something that made her feel slightly guilty. "We didn't get any presents for you," she admitted. "I mean, we didn't think you were going to be here, even though we did try to plan ahead. Just in case."

Luanne said, "It's okay. The two of you saved my life tonight, in several different ways. The whole time I was cruel and hurtful to you both, you still tried to not hurt me. I want--" She paused. "I want to be like that," she whispered. "And now I have a chance."

"Merry Christmas, Luanne," Miley and Lilly whispered in unison as they held her tightly until her tears stopped.

**Author's Afterword:** That chapter brought tears to my eyes as I wrote it and again as I read it. There are still one, maybe two chapters to go in this story; after all, we haven't opened presents yet! Hope everyone isn't too mad at me for the cliffhangers the last two chapters, but I just type in what the story tells me to. Thanks to everyone for their opinions on what the next story should be, because it's helped me decide. I promise to tell everyone what the next story will deal with at the end of this tale. See you soon and good luck with school, exams and holiday shopping!

-- Jo --


	19. Chapter 19: Unwrapped

**Author's Note:** This is the next-to-last chapter for this story, which is bittersweet for me. I've loved writing it and part of me hates for it to be over, but the rest of me is happy that another tale in the lives of Miley and Lilly is almost complete, because soon I can start the next one. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful reviews and the sweet words and thoughts. I hope everyone is making it through finals well; my thoughts and prayers are with all of you. For my standard disclaimers, please see Chapter 1.

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 19: Unwrapped

_So I walk out in silence_

_That's when I start to realize_

_What you bring to my life_

_Damn, it's got to make me smile_

_It's so contagious_

_I cannot get it out of my mind_

_It's so outrageous_

_You make me feel so high_

_All the time_

-- Avril Lavigne; "Contagious"

Lilly woke from sleep to find Miley not in the bed, although her side of the bed was still warm. As Lilly listened, she could hear Miley's voice coming from the kitchen, her musical laughter bringing a smile to Lilly's sleepy face. The two of them had stayed up quite late talking with Luanne, trying to get to know the nicer side of Miley's cousin—no, Miley's _sister_, Lilly corrected herself. The three girls had also decided to keep that secret between them for the time being. Miley's and Luanne's grandmother Ruthie Stewart also knew their true relation, but she had kept the secret for over sixteen years until she had confessed it to Lilly the night before.

Luanne had slept on the floor in Miley's and Lilly's room, and Lilly saw she was still asleep, her hair sprawled out across the pillow they had placed on the floor for her. Luanne had originally wanted to go back to her motel for the night, but Lilly and Miley were both very concerned about the possibility of her having a wreck on the icy roads that late at night. Luanne had agreed to spend the night there, but only if she stayed with Miley and Lilly.

There was obviously quite a bit of anger and resentment toward Ruthie that still lingered in Luanne's mind, and Lilly could see why. However, Lilly could also see that Ruthie had acted out of good intentions when she had told everyone in the family that Luanne was Bobby Ray's daughter rather than the truth, that she and Miley were twins. But Ruthie couldn't have foreseen what his wife's death would do to her son Bobby Ray. Because of his bitterness and despair, he had turned to alcohol and, in time, to physical abuse of Luanne. The years of abuse left Luanne psychologically damaged, full of hatred and resentment toward her entire family but most of all toward herself.

Lilly slipped out of the bed and looked at Luanne. While she looked remarkably like Miley, she frowned in her sleep, while Miley usually smiled. The difference was a bit disconcerting to Lilly, and she quietly put on her pajamas and stepped out the bedroom door, leaving it open slightly. She walked down the hall to the kitchen, where Miley, Dolly and Ruthie were sitting at the table, eating breakfast and talking about something.

"Morning everyone!" Lilly said cheerily as she walked over and gave Miley a kiss on the head. "And good morning to you, Miles," she said with a smile.

"Mornin' hon," Miley replied. "I already got you a plate and a napkin," she said, pointing to a place laid out right beside her. "Figured you'd be hungry when you woke up."

"You figured right," Lilly said as she sat down next to Miley and scooted close. "We need to listen for Luanne to wake up," Lilly said as she began loading her plate with bacon and biscuits. "She was still asleep when I got up."

"Tough night for her," Miley said.

"Tough night for everyone, Miles," Lilly corrected her. "Especially you."

Miley grimaced as she took a bite of eggs. As she swallowed, she waved her fork in Lilly's direction. "I knew you'd come rescue me, Lilly," she said. "You're the best knight in shining armor I could ever have."

Lilly blushed as she muttered, "Never been called that before," getting a laugh from Ruthie and Dolly.

Miley set her fork down in her plate and hugged Lilly with both arms. "Well, you are," she said confidently. "And not only did you save me, you saved Luanne, too."

Lilly closed her eyes and laid her fork down against her plate as she leaned into Miley's embrace. "She's still got a long way to go, Miley," Lilly said solemnly. "She did some pretty awful things this past week."

Miley didn't show any signs of releasing Lilly from her grip. "Yes, she did," Miley said. "And she realizes that she needs help now. I think she's sincere this time."

"I hope so, Miley," Lilly said. She opened her eyes and patted Miley on the arm as Miley released her. "She's been through a lot."

"After you ladies went in your room last night, Bobby Ray told us some of what he had done to Luanne," Dolly said. "I guess in a way, we're all sorta guilty. As a family, we let Luanne down."

"How so?" Miley asked. "Bobby Ray was Luanne's father. It was his responsibility to take care of her, and he let her down."

"But we all knew he was drinkin' too much," Dolly countered. "And we didn't do anything to save Luanne."

Ruthie set her coffee cup down. "But Dolly, how many times did we ask Luanne if he was hurting her?"

Dolly shook her head. "Plenty, but o' course she was gonna say no. She'd already lost her momma, so she probably woulda done anything to keep her daddy too."

Lilly nodded her head. "She would have. She told us last night that was the reason why she never said anything to anyone. She was afraid that she'd be taken away from him, and then the two of them wouldn't have each other, even as screwed up as they were."

Silence settled over the table. Ruthie looked at Miley and Lilly as she said, "Do you three talk about anything else last night?" By the look in her eyes, it was evident what she was really asking Miley and Lilly.

"We did, but all three of us think some of that stuff should stay between us for right now," Miley answered.

A look of relief was evident on Ruthie's face at Miley's answer. Miley got up and hugged Ruthie as she said, "I love you, Mamaw." She stood up as she let go of Ruthie. "I'm going to check on Luanne," she said as she walked down the hallway.

Lilly watched Miley walk down the hall with a long, lingering gaze full of warmth. "I am so lucky to have her," she said, having forgotten she was in the presence of others due to her eyes being locked on Miley's cute butt as she walked to the bedroom door. As Miley opened the bedroom door, she turned and caught Lilly's eye, giving her a wink and grin as she went into the room.

"Lord, that is some kind of hungry look," Dolly said with a laugh, bringing Lilly back to reality.

"Huh? What?" Lilly stammered. "Somebody say something?"

"I think Dolly was commenting about the look on your face, Lilly," Ruthie said, reaching over to pat Lilly's hand. "It's very clear how much you love her and how much she loves you by the way you look at each other."

"And talk about each other," Dolly said to Ruthie, giving her a smile. "We got to hear some good stuff this mornin'!"

Lilly felt her cheeks start to turn red. "What did she tell you?" she said. "Was it about me locking my self out of the house in my pajamas? Or was it about the time Jackson scared me so badly that I ran into the wall?"

Dolly and Ruthie both laughed. "No, darlin'," Dolly said, "She didn't tell us anything embarrassin' like that. But she did tell us about some of things you've done for her, like you playin' soccer and scoring goals for her. And about the DVD you made her for her birthday."

Ruthie added, "And we've been talking some to her about getting married, as well as staying married."

Dolly nodded her head. "Two very different things there. Trust me, I been married enough to know the difference!" she said with a large smile.

Lilly smiled and relaxed. "So, any tips on not screwing up a marriage? I mean, I'm crazy about Miley and I know she is about me, but I'm..." She trailed off and looked down at the table, slightly ashamed at what she was feeling.

"What is it, Lilly?" Dolly asked. "It's okay, you can talk to us, darlin'."

Lilly looked back up. "I'm really embarrassed to admit this, but... I'm scared! I'm scared I'm going to do something and screw this up. That one day I'll make Miley so mad at me that she just wants to run away and leave me. And that would kill us both." She looked back down at the table, telling herself not to cry with only marginal success.

"Aw, sweetheart," Dolly said, "everybody's scared of screwin' up somehow. That just means that this is important enough to you that you really, really want it to work."

Lilly nodded. "I want it more than anything. I want _her_ more than anything. I couldn't be without her, not now. She's too much a part of my life. She's part of my soul."

Ruthie smiled. "Lilly, the best advice I could give you is to remember that the two of you are partners. You might not always do exactly the same things or contribute exactly the same ways, but both of you have to keep adding to the marriage for it to thrive. But somehow, I think the two of you are going to do just fine." She looked closely at Lilly. "I would think the biggest worry about being with Miley is dealing with Hannah Montana and all that comes with her celebrity."

Lilly smiled at that. "Yeah, but I've had time to get used to it."

"I think you've done much more than just get used to it," Ruthie said. "Judging from the way Lola is doing on television, I expect you're going to be a star yourself before long."

Lilly considered that, then she said, "I can handle that, I think. That way I could contribute to our marriage like Miley is going to. Well, like she already has, too." She looked at the two older women sitting across the table from her. "Do you think we're ready to get married?"

Ruthie and Dolly both smiled kindly. "It's hard to say when two people are really _ready_ to get married, Lilly," Ruthie said.

Dolly added, "Heck, most of the time we just go ahead and do it whether we're ready or not." That comment coaxed a laugh out of Lilly. "Lilly," she said in a more serious voice, "it's super important to make sure that no matter how close you two get, you each keep a little part of yourself. Find some time for each of you to have alone, or you run the risk of gettin' sick of each other. I know right now, you two are all in the puppy dog stage where you gotta have all the time together you can, and that's great, but over the years you need to keep some small time apart. When you lose yourself, you're not any good to either of you. Miley loves you because of who _you_ are, not because you're willin' to change everything to make her happy. Now, I expect you'd _be_ willin' to do that, but you can't. And you can't let her do that either. When a wife starts becomin' someone else just to make her husband—or her wife—happy, then trouble's bound to follow. Keepin' that little time to yourself will keep your marriage much stronger in the long run than becomin' carbon copies of each other."

Lilly digested Dolly's words. "Thank you, both of you," she said to Ruthie and Dolly. She looked straight at Dolly as she asked, "So why have you been through so many husbands?"

Dolly laughed a loud cackle. "Oh, darlin', I handle romance like I do fishin'!" she said with a loud voice. "I practice catch 'n release!"

As the three women laughed, Miley and Luanne walked into the kitchen. "Mornin' everybody," Luanne said politely. She walked over to Lilly, who stood and hugged both her and Miley as they got to her.

"Here, Luanne," Lilly said, getting her plate and motioning for Luanne to sit in her seat. "I'll get another chair."

Miley handed Luanne a plate from another setting so Luanne could get some breakfast. "Smells great," Luanne said softly. Truthfully, she was very confused right now. While she knew Miley and Lilly cared about her and that Dolly had always been good to her, her feelings toward Ruthie were very jumbled at the moment. While her Mamaw had always be good to her, it was her fault that Luanne had been taken away from her twin sister. Her fault that Luanne had endured the hell she had growing up. And the whole time, her own Mamaw had kept the secret that could have freed her from her prison of a childhood. Luanne kept her gaze directed at the table, careful not to look up at her Mamaw or Dolly, who was sitting directly beside Ruthie.

Miley sat next to Luanne with Lilly against Miley's other side. "I'm sorry you had to sleep on the floor, Luanne," Lilly said, "but those beds just aren't big enough."

Luanne looked over at Lilly and let a smile creep across her face. "That's okay," she said, "I bet you two slept a bit more intimately than I'd a'been comfortable with."

Lilly laughed as Miley smiled. "You're probably right," Lilly said, her happy voice a bit louder than it had been earlier.

Dolly got up and hugged Luanne. "I'm sure glad you came to your senses before anyone got hurt, Luanne," she said.

Luanne looked up at her in disbelief. "Aunt Dolly, I hurt lots of people. Miley, Lilly, Todd..." She trailed off at the last name, then she started crying. "I was so cruel to him! I lied to him, and I used him, and, and--"

Miley leaned over and wrapped her arms around Luanne, who turned and leaned against both Miley and Lilly, holding them both as she cried on Miley's shoulder for several minutes. By the time she was done, everyone at the table was teary-eyed. "I'm sorry," Luanne said as she straightened up, furiously wiping at her eyes with her fingers.

"Hey," Lilly said softly. As Luanne looked at her, Lilly continued, "What's done is done. You've told us you're sorry, and we forgive you. But sometime you'll have to tell Todd and talk to him about it." Luanne nodded, unable to say more just yet. "C'mon, let's go sit outside. We need to grab some blankets, though."

"I'll make the hot chocolate!" Miley said excitedly. "Two cups, double strong comin' up!" She looked at Luanne. "Lilly and I will share one," she said by way of explanation.

"Oh," Luanne said, understanding now why the number was off.

Lilly grinned. "Thank you, sweetheart," she said sweetly. She picked up several thick blankets and led Luanne outside. As they stepped out onto the porch, the frigid air bit into them fiercely. Lilly hurriedly tossed Luanne one blanket as she began laying another one atop one of the large rocking chairs. As Luanne did the same, Lilly tossed her a second one then sat down and wrapped herself up as Luanne followed.

After a few minutes Miley came outside with two large mugs full of hot chocolate. She handed one to Luanne and then sat in Lilly's lap. Lilly wrapped the other blanket around her girlfriend as Miley gave her a drink of the hot chocolate. "Thank you, Miles," Lilly said sweetly. "That's great!"

Luanne nodded as she said, "Yeah, that tastes really good."

"Thank you," Miley said as she took a drink herself then snuggled in closer to Lilly. She gently set the mug on the small table between the rocking chairs, then she wrapped the blanket tightly around herself and her girlfriend.

"For someone who wanted hot chocolate, you set it down awfully fast," Lilly remarked.

Miley smirked. "Well, I really just wanted to be able to wrap myself around you, girlfriend. The hot chocolate was just to sweeten the deal. Um, no pun intended."

Lilly gave a short laugh. "Lover, you don't need to sweeten anything with me when it comes to you. You're sweet enough."

Luanne looked at the two of them and sighed quietly. "Please don't take this the wrong way, you two, but I am so envious of what you have together." She paused, then continued. "I mean, just something as simple as having someone _want_ me to touch him—heck, or even touch _her_—I want that so badly. I guess that's why I let things with Todd get as far as I did. Having him tell me that he loved me, feeling him touch me that way, it felt so good that it was hard for me to say no. I enjoyed it at the end, where before I was just doing it to use him." She looked down into her mug. "Now he's going to hate me for the rest of his life. He still had a crush on you, Miley, and I told him I was you. So not only did I lie to him and use him, I also embarrassed him in front of you and your whole family."

Miley looked over at Luanne but didn't remove her hands from the very nice positions they had found underneath Lilly's shirt. "Luanne, what you did was completely wrong, but you yourself realize that you need help to deal with all that's happened to you. After you deal with that, then you can go back and try to repair the damage you've done. It's going to take a long time, but you're smart enough and strong enough to do it." Miley looked into Lilly's warm blue eyes, then the two of them turned to look at Luanne together. "We love you, Luanne," Miley said.

Lilly added, "Yes, we do. And when you're ready for a sister and sister-in-law, then we'll be right here. Until then, we're your cousin and... cousin-in-law? Is there such a thing, Miley?"

Miley giggled. "Don't think so, hon. But I think Lu gets the point."

Luanne smiled. While it had felt odd at first, she was starting to like the feeling of smiling. "You know, I used to hate it when you called me that, Miley. But now I don't mind it." She took a deep breath. "Miley?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you... Can you tell me what our mom was like?"

That emotional talk and the rest of Christmas Eve morning went quickly, and as the afternoon rolled around, Miley and Lilly found themselves much more tired than either had expected. They were sitting in the living room with Luanne, Dolly, Ruthie, Jackson, and Robby Ray, catching up on all the latest news on the rest of the family and everyone's friends. As Lilly yawned loudly, Miley giggled and said, "Tired hon?"

Lilly nodded as she finished her yawn. "Busy day yesterday. I think I might take a short nap if no one minds."

As Lilly climbed out of her lap, Miley stood as well. "I'll join you Lil, 'cause I could use the extra slumber time myself. See everyone in a bit," she said as they left the living room.

As they entered the bedroom, Miley closed the door just before Lilly fell on top of her, pushing her against the wall. They kissed hotly for several seconds, hands roaming madly across each other's bodies before Lilly came up for air. "I had to have you, Miley," she whispered as she kissed Miley's neck. "I'm sorry, but I just need to touch you."

"I need you to touch me, Lilly," Miley replied just as eagerly. "I'm always yours, anytime you want. You know that."

Lilly looked into Miley's deep crystal blue eyes, smiling as she searched their depths. "I know," she said. "Just like I'm yours."

Miley leaned forward and kissed Lilly quickly. "Then why are we standing here instead of on the bed?" she asked impishly. Lilly grinned as she corrected that situation by spinning Miley and falling onto the bed with her. "Not going to let me go?" Miley asked, still grinning.

"Absolutely not," said Lilly. "Not ever."

After clothes were tossed in various directions, the girls spent the next several minutes making heated love under the covers, coming up for air several times due to the simmering heat beneath the blankets but unwilling to take the risk of being too loud with so many people in the living room. When both very hungry appetites had been satisfied, they curled up facing each other, adjusting each other's hair so it wouldn't annoy either of them.

"I love you, Lilly," Miley said, smiling.

"I love you too, Miley," Lilly answered.

Nothing further was said then. Everything else could simply wait until the nap was over and Miley and Lilly had spent the needed amount of time in each other's arms.

After an hour or two, Miley and Lilly woke up and got ready for the dinner that evening. Presents would be opened, and all the nearby family would be coming. Ruthie and Dolly started cooking around lunchtime, and Miley and Lilly helped as best as they could. In a surprising move, Noel stopped by to help cook, but she was quickly shooed out of the kitchen and into the living room to get to know her stepdaughter a bit better. Jackson and Robby Ray were nearby as well, doing "man things" outside as Jackson had put it, but remarkably Luanne and Noel seemed to hit it off rather well. Luanne had some initial resentment that Noel could truly love her father—as that's how she still saw Bobby Ray, who _had_ raised her, despite the abuse she had endured—but that was passed over before long. Luanne truly wanted a maternal figure in her life, and Noel saw Luanne as a young woman who needed love and support like no one else she had known. Even if Luanne hadn't been her stepdaughter, Noel would still have gone out of her way to help her, and by the end of the day the two had formed the beginnings of a good relationship.

As the daylight fast succumbed to the dimness of dusk, Lilly slipped outside, temporarily leaving behind the increasingly full house as she went out onto the back porch to call her parents. Her coat and scarf helped keep the chill away, but she missed Miley's warmth. Miley was still inside, where everyone was trying to get her to join in the singing, which she was hesitant to do since not everyone in there now knew her secret.

As the phone began to ring, Lilly waited for someone to pick up.

"_Hello?" _her mother's voice said on the other line.

"Hi Mom!" Lilly said. "We'll be back in Malibu tomorrow afternoon, just wanted to tell you and everyone Merry Christmas ahead of time. Miley said to tell you that she loves you and that we'll spend some time with you when we get back."

"_How sweet, Lilly, and Merry Christmas to you too. How many hours ahead of us are you out there?"_

"Three," Lilly answered. "Already dark here, so it's getting close."

"_Have you and Miley exchanged your gifts yet?"_

"No, we'll probably do it either last thing tonight or tomorrow morning. I just know she'll have gone and gotten something amazing that I can't possibly match," Lilly said sadly.

"_Lillian, listen to yourself,"_ her mother said with a chastising voice. _"Miley is crazy about you, and she's in a position to lavish quite a bit on you. Let her enjoy it, dear, and you enjoy it too. Heaven knows both of you have to work so hard, so why not relax and take what you get? After all, you'd do the same to her if the positions were reversed, and don't try to deny it."_

_She's got me there._ "Okay Mom, I'll try," Lilly said. "Tell everyone we're having a great time, 'kay?"

"_I will, dear. Is Miley's family being nice to you two?"_

"Yeah, they are. Several of them didn't know and one of her aunts got upset about it at first, but I think she's realized that we're really serious about each other. Everyone else has been really sweet, and they've made me feel like part of the family."

"_That's wonderful, Lilly!"_ A pause. _"I'm very happy you've had a good time. I must say, I wasn't sure what you and Miley were getting into going out there."_

Lilly quickly interjected before her mother could elaborate. "Mom, people out here have been just as nice as anyone back home, with just a few exceptions. And Miley's family is so sweet! I can't wait for you and Dad to meet them. Maybe we can do something before the wedding where everyone can get together."

"_Are there plans you girls have made that your father and I should know about?"_

Lilly could hear the smile in her mother's voice. "I can't say, but I think you'll be hearing something in the near future. And Mom, thank you and Daddy for what we talked about two weeks ago. About our upcoming birthdays."

"_You're welcome dear."_

"Okay Mom, I need to get back inside before Miley misses me. I love you."

"_We love you, too, Lilly, and tell Miley we love her. Come home safe."_

"We will, Mom. Merry Christmas."

"_Merry Christmas."_

Lilly ended the conversation and snapped the phone shut. A voice from behind her made her jump.

"I missed you as soon as you left."

Lilly turned to see Miley leaning against the back door, wearing her own thick winter coat and Lilly's pale green woolly hat. As Lilly watched, Miley kicked off the door and walked over to Lilly, wrapping her arms around her and kissing her on the lips. "Silly Lilly, thinking I wouldn't know you were gone," Miley said gently. "You tell your mom I love her and your dad and brother?"

"Yeah," Lilly said with a smile. "She was fussing at me because I was worried that you were going to get me some amazing present that I can't match, like you did for my birthday."

"And what did she say?" Miley asked with a smile.

"She said that I'd do the same thing to you if our roles were reversed. And that I should just enjoy it and let you spoil me."

Miley kissed Lilly again. "Smart woman, your mother. She's right, you know."

Lilly nodded and leaned her head against against Miley's chest, nuzzling her face against the left side of Miley's neck. "Yeah, she is. I'm working on it, Miles. But I still wish I could do the things for you that you do for me."

Miley patted Lilly on the back, but most of the sensation was muffled by the thick coat. "Lilly, you saved my life yesterday. And then you saved Luanne's life too! What more can you give me than that?" she asked incredulously.

Lilly grinned, glad that Miley couldn't see it.

"I can feel you smile, you know," Miley said knowingly. "Felt your lips move against my neck."

Lilly considered a moment, then said, "Oh, so you can feel this?" She then began nibbling and licking on Miley's neck, making her girlfriend squeal and jump around as she tried to escape Lilly's now-firm grip.

"Lilly! That tickles!" Miley yelped as Lilly hit a very ticklish spot. "It's cold out here, Lilly! Your tongue might get stuck to my neck!"

Lilly hesitated a minute at that statement, then proceeded. _I'll take that risk_.

"Ahhh! Lilly!" Miley finally managed to turn and scrape Lilly off against the porch table. She rubbed the moist spots on her neck where Lilly had licked them, hoping furiously that there wouldn't be a hickey.

"Don't worry Miles, I wouldn't put a hickey on you," Lilly said, laughing. "And I definitely wouldn't here, not with all your family around. It'd embarrass me as much as it would you, trust me."

Miley knew Lilly was telling the truth there. Both of them felt that hickeys were largely tacky and embarrassing, except in very rare circumstances. "Thank you," she said to Lilly, holding her arms open.

Lilly stepped over and into Miley's embrace again. "I love yo-- Ahhh!" Her simple words turned into a shriek as Miley ran her cold hands underneath Lilly's coat and shirt, tickling her back and ribs.

"Gotcha!" Miley crowed as she started to remove her hands, but Lilly held them in place.

"Yes, you do," she said with a smile. "And you're never getting rid of me."

"Good thing," answered Miley with a smile. "It's be awful hard to replace you."

Lilly smiled at the joke. "C'mon, let's go inside and sit with your family some more. And you need to sing some before the night is over. You can stick to older songs, that way no one should recognize your voice."

Miley began walking to the back door. "For you, Lilly, okay. And I do have a song I wanted to try with some music. I wonder if Mamaw has any Disney movies here?"

When they got back inside, Vickie and her children and grandchildren had arrived. The boys and girls both immediately made their way to Lilly with squeals of delight, matched only when they saw Miley and Luanne's uncanny resemblance. After several minutes, everyone took a break to get a drink.

When the front door opened, Miley stole a glance at who the new guest was. When she saw it was Bobby Ray, her breathing stopped momentarily. Next to her, Lilly likewise turned at Miley's reaction. "I guess we're about to see how it's going to go," Miley said, her voice betraying her nervousness.

"I think Noel's time with her today has made a difference, Miley," Lilly said softly. "And I know that being able to talk to you has also helped. Plus Luanne has to deal with this." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Birth father or not, Bobby Ray is the man who raised her. He's her daddy. He made some really bad mistakes, but then so has Luanne. Now they have to come to terms with each other."

As they watched, Luanne spotted Bobby Ray across the room, and she froze. Noel reached out to her, but Luanne turned and quickly walked away, going down the hall and out the back door. Miley hurried to the coat rack and grabbed Luanne's coat, tossing it to Noel. She turned to Bobby Ray and said, "Uncle Bobby, you need to talk to her. You and Noel both."

Bobby Ray looked at Miley and then at Noel. He crossed the living room and went down the hall. As he and Noel stepped out the back door, Miley and Lilly hurried behind them. As the two girls got to the door, they stretched up to look out the door's window.

Luanne stood apart from Bobby Ray and Noel, her back turned to them. The thickness of the door kept the girls from hearing what was being said, but from body language it appeared that Noel was pleading with Luanne. Suddenly Luanne whirled around, and for just a second Miley and Lilly could see a glimpse of hatred on her face, the same hatred they had faced less than twenty-four hours ago. But as quickly as the hatred arrived, Luanne shook her head and bent over, as if trying to shake those feelings off of her. As she stooped over, her body wracking with sobs, Noel slowly approached her, placing a gentle hand on her back. As Luanne straightened up, she yelled something at Bobby Ray which made him cover his face briefly. But then he spread his hands and obviously said something else, something that made Luanne stop.

Miley and Lilly were both praying during this exchange, both wishing for some sort of truce between Luanne and her Daddy. Only last night Luanne had been willing to hurt or kill him in retaliation for the horrors inflicted upon her during her childhood, and Miley and Lilly both feared that these wounds might be too grievous to heal. But as they silently prayed together, they saw the expression on Luanne's face soften. First she looked at Noel, then she turned to look at Bobby Ray. And then, as if in slow motion, she slowly walked toward him as he also approached her. As they met, contact was at first tentative, but then Luanne fell against him, crying as he wrapped his arms around her and Noel both. For long moments they stood there, holding each other despite the cold air swirling around them, as if afraid to let each other go.

Miley and Lilly stepped away from the back door, their fears about how that talk would go relieved somewhat. They stepped into their bedroom, not bothering to turn on the light as they sat on the bed and held each other. "I want her to have a family, Lilly," Miley said softly. "I mean, besides us."

Lilly nodded in the dark. "I knew what you meant, Miles. But it's going to take a very, very long time for Luanne to get past what he did to her. And it's probably going to take a long time for him to get past what he did, too."

The back door closing announced the return of Luanne, Bobby Ray and Noel. Miley and Lilly saw Bobby Ray and Noel walk past the door back toward the living room, then Luanne stepped into their room. "Hey," she said, not bothering to turn on the light.

"Hey," Miley said in return.

"Thanks for watching out for me," Luanne said. "I felt you two there, almost like you were telling me to not listen to the hate and anger again." She took a deep breath. "I held it off, this time. But I still need some help." She sat down next to Miley and Lilly. "I talked to Aunt Dolly earlier today while you two were sleeping. I think I'm going to go live with her in Nashville for a while. She said there's a great mental health center there, and I might be staying there at first." She turned away, then continued. "I want to get better. I want to get all these... dark thoughts, I guess, out of my mind. Or least be able to push them away when they come out."

Lilly reached out and took Luanne's hand, pulling it closer until Miley could hold her hand as well. "We want you to get better, Luanne. We'll pay for whatever treatment you need, no questions asked."

"Absolutely," Miley said. "We want to get to know you, the real you. And you need to get to know us."

Luanne turned back toward the two of them. "I already know that you two are kind and sweet and loving. Not just with other, but with everyone I've seen you interact with. Even someone who treated both of you in a horrible way. Thank you for giving me a chance at life again. I promise I won't waste it." She hugged both Miley and Lilly tightly as all three girls found themselves teary-eyed.

As Luanne apart from Miley and Lilly, Lilly said, "So you're not going to stay with your dad and Noel?"

Luanne shook her head. "I'm not ready for that yet. I'm not ready to go back in that house." She shivered. "For me, that house is like the house from 'The Amityville Horror'. Just thinking about it scares me to death." She smiled as she looked back at them. "Aunt Dolly will be good for me, I think. That way I don't have to be forced to see my Daddy yet. We can take our time getting to know each other again, at our own speed. Plus I want to learn a bit more about my Mom. My real Mom."

"I think that would be great," Miley said, her voice heavy with emotion. Lilly squeezed her hand in support. "We're flying back to California tomorrow to spend Christmas Day with Lilly's family. Want a lift to Nashville?"

Luanne shook her head. "Thanks, but I want to drive back with Aunt Dolly. There are a few places I want to see before we leave."

Lilly suspected she knew what at least one of those places was. She and Miley were planning on stopping there on their way back to the airport tomorrow as well. "Take care of yourself, Luanne," she said. "We plan on you visiting sometime before too long."

"I'll do that," Luanne said with a smile. "But right now, it sounds like they're starting to open presents out there."

As Miley and Lilly listened, they could indeed hear little high-pitched squeals as the little ones opened gifts. "We better get out there," Miley said. "We're missing all the fun!" The three of them stood up and hurried into the hallway, making their way into the living room. As they entered, the floor was partially covered with shreds of wrapping paper; Robbie Ray was holding a rather large black trash bag, grabbing the discarded paper whenever the opportunity presented itself.

As the three of them made their way into the chaos in the living room, Luanne detached herself from Miley and Lilly and sat off to the side of the frantic scene. Miley and Lilly continued toward the eye of the unwrapping storm and perched on the edge of the large couch near the Christmas tree.

Shouts of joy erupted as Miley's nieces Peyton and Patricia opened the large boxes that Miley and Lilly had given them. Inside were limited edition Hannah Montana and Lola Luftnagle dolls, along with several new outfits for each. Peyton and Patricia were slightly older than Andy and Heath at the ages of six and seven, and they were ecstatic at the dolls. "Thank you thank you thank you!" they both started babbling as they ran over to Miley and Lilly, totally unaware of the connection the young women had to the dolls they were holding. The seven-year-old Patricia said, "I've never even seen these before! Are they brand new?"

Miley smiled and said, "Um, I think they only sell them in California." That was a bit of a fib, as that particular set wouldn't be released for several weeks yet, and then only to collectors who had pre-ordered it. Hannah and Lola had asked for a few sets to be sent directly to them as soon as packaging was complete, as they had planned ahead for the holidays. Sometimes it was good to be the stars.

"Cool!" Patricia said as she and Peyton ran over to their daddies to have their new presents opened.

"Nice work," Lilly said to Miley.

"I have my moments," Miley said, happy at the girls' glee.

Lilly leaned against Miley and hugged her with one arm. "Yes, you certainly do," she agreed. "Are we opening ours tonight or waiting 'til tomorrow?"

Miley considered that. "Well, we usually wait until Christmas morning, like your family does, but tomorrow morning is gonna be pretty busy for us, I think."

Lilly nodded. "Might be a good idea to go ahead and open them tonight," she said.

Miley looked at Lilly and smiled. "Okay," she said, then she knelt at the base of the tree as she rummaged for the gifts she and Lilly had wrapped for each other. In addition to the gifts they had placed underneath the tree, each of them had a gift still concealed in their suitcases. Those two gifts were extremely personal and neither wanted to run the risk of them being discovered and accidentally opened by anyone else. As Miley handed Lilly their gifts, they stood and made their way back to their bedroom.

"We're going to open these in there," Lilly said by way of explanation as they made their way through the tumultuous room. She wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, but no one raised any objection to their stepping out as they reached the hall and went back into the bedroom.

As they placed the presents on the bed, each of them went to a suitcase and removed their "special" gift. For Miley, her special gift to Lilly was in a box slightly smaller than a shoebox. Lilly's was actually wrapped in a shoebox, left over from a recent pair of heels she had purchased. As they retrieved those gifts, they sat on the bed and passed presents over to each other.

"Okay, open one!" Lilly said impatiently. Miley grinned and started tearing into a small package Lilly had given her, as Lilly did the same with one of her gifts. Once both had opened the boxes, they each held up several CDs. "Okay, how funny is that?" Lilly said with a laugh.

Miley grinned. "Looks like we know each other pretty well, huh?" she said, as each had gotten the other several CDs of artists they loved. "I guess you got these that day you went to the mall with your mom?" she asked Lilly.

"Yeah," Lilly said. "When did you sneak out to get these?" she asked, holding up her own stack of CDs.

Miley said, "The same day. We saw you two and ran down to the next level until you were done, so you wouldn't see us. Jackson griped the whole time because I made him hide in Victoria's Secret."

"Wow, I didn't think he'd complain about that," Lilly said curiously.

"Kaela was with us," Miley said. "And by the way she liked some of the stuff in there, he knew he'd have to come back later and try and buy it without her."

"Oh, that serves him right!"

Miley handed Lilly another gift as Lilly did the same for her. This time, Miley's gift was a set of earrings, set in the familiar Hannah Montana logo with the connected letters H and M, with yellow and purple stones providing the colors. "Oh Lilly, these are beautiful!" she said. "Where did you get these?"

Lilly smiled at Miley's reaction. "I had them made for you. The stones are only lab-created, because I couldn't afford to get the real things in those colors, but I still think they're gorgeous."

Miley leaned over and kissed Lilly. "They're beautiful, and I take offense to you implying they're not real. They look plenty real to me!"

"You know what I mean, Miles," Lilly said sheepishly.

"Yes, I do, and I'm glad you saved thousands of dollars and got stones just as beautiful as ones that would have been much more expensive."

"Well, I hated to spend that kind of money, even if you say it is partly mine too..."

Miley smiled at Lilly. "That's because you're practical, Lilly, and that's one of the reasons I love you so much. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Miles." Lilly opened her own gift and gasped at the dazzling pair of brilliant pink shoes in the box. "These look just like--"

"The ones you wore at the Fashion Rocks event," Miley finished for her. "They are. I had them send them to me at the Tipton so I could give them to you as a present."

"Oh, Miley, these are way too expensive!" Lilly said.

Miley shook her head. "Nope. I asked for them, and they gave them to me. When I told the director they'd be a gift for you, she said I could have them as part of my payment."

Lilly hugged Miley and them captured her head for a kiss. "Thank you! I love you so much!" She looked down at the box in her other hand. "And I love my new shoes too!" she added with a high-pitched voice.

A few other presents were opened before the special gifts were all that were left. Lilly handed Miley hers and said, "You first."

Miley shook her head and handed Lilly hers. "No, you open yours first."

"Miley, you're going to get me something that I won't be able to match and--" Miley's fingers on Lilly's lips stopped her talk. As Miley removed her fingers, Lilly smiled and said, "Okay, okay." She opened Miley's gift and opened the small box. Carefully she pulled out a mass of crumpled paper; at the center of that mass was a simple gold CD in a blank jewel case. The only markings on the CD were alphanumeric characters that made no sense to Lilly. "I don't get it," she said, puzzled. "What is it?"

"Play it," Miley said, motioning to the CD/clock radio beside the bed.

Lilly carefully put the CD in and adjusted the volume, then hit Play. In a few seconds, Lilly heard the acoustic guitar notes to one of her favorite love songs, "All I Want Is You," by U2. But right as she opened her mouth to say something, she heard the singer's voice. Instead of Bono, it was Miley. Lilly froze as she listened to Miley's honey voice sing the words to the song she knew by heart, and it was a breathtaking sound to hear. Moved nearly to tears, she turned to look at Miley. "It's beautiful," Lilly whispered.

"So are you," Miley replied. After a minute of listening, Miley said, "It's a new Hannah CD. All love songs, all dedicated to you. I sang several of your favorites on it, plus three new ones I wrote for you."

Lilly leaned over and hugged Miley fiercely. "Thank you," she said. "When is it coming out?"

Miley looked into Lilly's eyes. "It's not unless you want it to," she said carefully.

Lilly looked confused. "What?"

Miley swallowed. _I hope she doesn't get upset over this_. "Lilly, that CD you have is the master disc. It has the original recordings. You have the only copy of this CD."

Lilly paled slightly as she realized what Miley truly had given her. _This CD, a new Hannah CD... It'd be worth tens of millions of dollars in sales! _ "You don't want to release it?" she asked Miley slowly.

"It's not mine to release," Miley said. "I made it for you, Lilly. It's very personal, and I already told the record company that it might not be released to the public. They weren't very happy about it, but I pointed out that I'm not obligated to release another CD for another eleven months yet. That's plenty of time to record a new one."

Lilly looked at the empty jewel case in her hand. "Wow," she said in a subdued voice. "That's one heck of a Christmas gift, Miles."

"I hope you like it," Miley said softly.

Lilly leaned over, grabbed Miley and pulled her down on top of her, kissing her passionately. When they parted, Miley was breathless with delight. "I guess you like it?" she said with a weak voice.

"It's an unbelievable gift!" Lilly said in a voice much louder than she had planned on. "I love it," she added in a more controlled voice. "But you know we have to release it, right?"

Miley looked into Lilly's eyes. "I guessed you'd say that," she said.

"But not before I get to listen to it first," Lilly quickly interjected. "A few times. Well, I'll make a copy when we get home, and I'll listen to that. So tell the record company, oh..." She smiled. "Two or three weeks? Maybe a month?" At Miley's grin, Lilly hastily added, "Miley, we'd be crazy not to release a new Hannah Montana CD! I mean, it's millions of dollars for your record company and for our future!" She paused as her eyes watered slightly. "But the fact that you were willing to give up all that, just because you felt this needed my approval to release it because it was personal between us..." She kissed Miley again. "That's one of the sweetest things I've ever heard of anyone doing. And that's one of the reasons why I love you."

Miley snorted. "I thought it was the great sex."

Lilly laughed, and the sound of it was just like music to Miley's ears. "The great sex is just icing on the cake," Lilly said. "And speaking of which..."

Miley sat back up and reached for her gift. "It's not another book, is it?" she asked coyly. "Because my mouth still waters over that first one, and we're not even a quarter of the way through it."

Lilly shook her head. "Not another book, I promise. Well, not one like that."

Miley gingerly unwrapped the gift, removing the wrapping paper and then popping the tape on the package underneath. Inside was a large manila envelope. She looked at Lilly, but Lilly's expression remained neutral except for a faint smile. Miley opened the envelope and shook out the contents. Inside were several official-looking forms, a few printouts, a... hotel receipt? A guidebook to Canada? And... airline tickets? As Miley tried to reconcile what all these were, it suddenly hit her. Her hand clapped over her mouth before she could yell or scream as she looked at Lilly, who was nodding.

"Yes! I talked to our parents, and they're going to let us get married next year!" Lilly practically yelled.

Miley did scream then, but not too loudly before Lilly grabbed her and covered her mouth with her own. As they kissed, they stared into each other's eyes, both too excited to relax and close them. "How--? And when--" Miley started to get out before Lilly shook her head.

"Next year, right after we turn seventeen. It's less than a year away, and it's a year sooner than we had been planning on. It gives us time to plan our wedding and do it right. I already told you, Niagara Falls has a place that specializes in same-sex weddings, and they already said that as long as our parents were there and signed with us, they'd do the ceremony for us. These are the forms we have to fill out, plus we need copies of our birth certificates and some other stuff. But it's going to be legal and everything, Miley!"

Miley was speechless other than a few garbled words that she tried to get out, causing Lilly to laugh at her mumbling. Finally she regained enough control over her tongue to say, "Oh my gosh, Lilly! You _so_ blew my present out of the water!'

"Miley, don't start that! This is not a competition, remember?" Lilly said. "This is us being good to each other. I can't put a price on your gift any more than you can on mine, so let's not try, okay?"

Miley nodded, proud at how smart her girlfriend was. "Sorry," she said.

"It's okay," Lilly said sweetly. "But truthfully, yours is worth a lot more money," she added.

"Money isn't everything," Miley said, meaning every syllable of it.

Lilly hugged Miley tightly, and Miley returned the embrace. "You got that right," Lilly said.

"Merry Christmas, Lilly."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Miles. I love you."

"Love you too."

**Author's Afterword:** I love happy chapters! One last little chapter to wrap things up and get our heroines back to Malibu, then this story will be complete. As I promised, I'll tell everyone what timeframe the next story will cover with this next chapter, and I think most everyone will be pleased! See you in a few days, and thanks for reading!

-- Jo --


	20. Chapter 20: Holiday Spirit

**Author's Note:** And we're finally here at the end of this holiday story. Try not to get too down with this being the last chapter, because there's always going to be a new story to tell when an old one ends. And in the Afterword, I'll tell you what our heroines' next story is going to be about. Don't peek! Well, okay, you can peek if you want. Just come back here once you're done. And if you've never heard of the singer I selected as this chapter's intro, check out her website at If you've seen the movie "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," the song playing with the end credits is her song "Rescue Me." For my standard disclaimers, please see Chapter 1.

**All I Want **

by Jo P.

Chapter 20: Holiday Spirit

_The only superpower here_

_That makes us strong_

_That kills the fear_

_The only superpower here is love_

_The only superpower here is love_

-- Rachel Robinson; "Rescue Me"

Lilly watched the ground fall away as the jet climbed into the sky. It was still early here, just after eight in the morning, and with the time zone change they'd be back in Malibu before nine there. Getting ready once they got there might take a little longer, but they'd definitely be back at her parents' house for Christmas morning there. Saying goodbye to Miley's family had proved harder than she'd expected. In the week she and Miley had spent in Tennessee, Lilly had developed a strong bond with her fiancée's family. Even family members who disliked their relationship in the beginning had accepted them for who they were, a young couple in love.

The business with Luanne had also touched Lilly deeply. Discovering that Miley's nemesis was actually her sister rocked everyone involved, but both Lilly and Miley were extremely grateful that Luanne had realized how much help she truly needed in coming to terms with her abusive childhood. Dolly and Luanne had left shortly before Lilly and Miley had, heading back to Nashville where Luanne was going to spend some time in Searchlight, a private psychiatric facility specializing in helping children and teenagers who had been abused to deal with their past and move forward. Hannah's money was going to be paying for all of Luanne's care, and Dolly was going to call Robbie Ray with the particulars once she had checked Luanne into the facility today.

Luanne had hugged Miley and Lilly goodbye when they had walked her to her car in the dark of the early Tennessee morning. Robbie Ray and Jackson were loading suitcases as the girls briefly talked. "Thank you for stopping me, Lilly," Luanne had said. "And thank you to both of you for giving me a second chance at life."

Lilly considered Luanne's words. Not everyone got a second chance, after all. Maybe Luanne would make the most of hers. Lilly felt the couch shift slightly as someone sat beside her. A hand whose warm touch stirred all sorts of feelings deep inside Lilly rested on her back, soothing away any lingering doubts or worries. "I'm really looking forward to seeing your parents again," Miley said with a smile.

Lilly turned to look at her lover, still beautiful even in sweats and with her hair pulled up under a cap. "Me too," Lilly said in response. "Your family has been great, but I want to get to show you off to my extended family now."

"You'll get to," Miley promised. "As soon as we get to the house and take a shower."

Lilly grinned. "Deal," she said. Washing away the fatigue from the trip back to California sounded wonderful. And being able to do so with the woman she loved scrubbing her back sounded even better. "Want to lie back down?" Lilly asked Miley. She really didn't have any lascivious thoughts right now, it was just that she always slept better with Miley next to her.

"Sure," Miley said with a warm smile. She got up and held out her hand for Lilly, helping her girlfriend up as she took it. They tossed their hats on the sofa and fell onto the bed, settling themselves against each other. "Have a good nap, Lilly Bear," Miley said as she closed her eyes.

Lilly yawned. "You too, Miley," she muttered as her own eyes fell shut.

Unfortunately, the flight back to California was much bumpier than either had expected. The near-constant turbulence proved difficult to avoid, even with the pilot changing altitudes when possible. Holding each other seemed to keep either Miley or Lilly from getting airsick, but sleep was still impossible, so the girls just chatted about whatever came to mind as they held each other comfortably. Three and a half turbulent hours later, a knock on the cabin's door woke Miley and Lilly. "Wake up, you two! We're gettin' ready to bring this bird in!" Robbie Ray called out from the other side of the door. Miley and Lilly quickly jumped up and hurried to the couch, where they buckled themselves in next to each other. Lilly leaned across Miley's lap to catch a peek outside.

"Almost back to Malibu," Lilly said happily. She quickly looked at Miley as the plane began its descent. "Miley, I had a great time and Tennessee was beautiful, but..." _Smooth, Truscott, why not just say that you like where you grew up more than where she grew up?_

"Lilly, it's okay," Miley said with a smile. "I know what you mean. Tennessee was where I grew up, but Malibu has something going for it that Tennessee could never match."

"The ocean?" Lilly asked.

Miley shook her head.

"The awesome weather?"

Another negative head shake.

"Hannah's career?"

"Nope," Miley said. She looked into Lilly's eyes as the plane touched down, only a slight lurch indicating they were on the ground. "It's where I met you."

Lilly's eyes watered at the simplicity of her girlfriend's statement. "That is so sweet," she choked out. "And it's true for me, too." She leaned over and kissed Miley as the plane continued braking, continuing to look in Miley's eyes as they pulled apart. Lilly licked traces of Miley's grape lip gloss off as she spoke again. "This is where we're going to make our lives together. As much as I loved Tennessee and as much as I'll love going back and visiting Misty Valley with you, _this_ is where our relationship started. This is where it grew strong and became something so much more than we ever thought it would be. Because of that, I'll always love Malibu."

Miley leaned closer and held Lilly. "Amen to that, girlfriend," she said softly.

As soon as they were back at the Stewarts' house, Miley and Lilly ran upstairs, quite literally, with Lilly nearly stepping on Miley's back when Miley tripped going up the stairs. Thankfully, she caught herself before she stepped on her true love, and instead she helped Miley up, both of them laughing. Once in their room, they stripped off their traveling clothes and ran into the bathroom. Lilly started the shower while Miley brushed her teeth. Lilly quickly used the bathroom while Miley finished with her brushing, then they traded places. Once Lilly's teeth were brushed and Miley's bladder empty, they stepped into the hot spray of the shower.

While they started with good intentions, the distractions offered by each other's naked bodies proved too powerful to resist, and a long break was taken to reacquaint themselves with each other in an intimate way. Following that pleasant interlude, they proceeded with shampooing hair and washing bodies in their cooperative manner, helping each other at each step of the way. When they were done, they stepped out and dried off. No towels were snapped at bare bottoms, but only because Lilly caught Miley peeking at her before she could draw the towel back. As they hung up their towels, each girl put on deodorant and then they stepped out of the bathroom to get dressed.

"What to wear?" Lilly muttered. "So many choices, only two bodies..."

Miley laughed at her girlfriend's unintended humor. "How about something wintery?" she offered.

Lilly gave Miley a look. "Miles, after a week in Tennessee with snow everywhere, it's gonna be hard to feel the winter spirit with the temperature seventy-two degrees outside."

"Oh yeah, I see your point," Miley said. "Something red or green?" she said, perky once again.

"That'll work!" Lilly exclaimed. "Now why didn't I think of that?"

"Um, because you're still jet lagged?"

"That works," Lilly said happily as she stepped into their closet. She began rummaging through the shirts, finally settling on a dark green half-sleeve shirt that she handed to Miley. "This'll fit you perfectly," she said with a smile. As Miley took the shirt, Lilly added, "Plus it makes your boobs look really nice."

Miley stepped back into the bedroom, calling over her shoulder, "Oh, so that's your real motivation for picking out that shirt!"

Lilly answered, "Uh hm," her tongue peeking out the side of her mouth as she tried to decide on a pair of pants to go with Miley's shirt. "Your dark brown slacks out there in the dresser?"

"Yes," Miley called from the other room. "And so are your cute jeans with the little snowmen on them."

Lilly grinned. "Is that a hint, Ms. Stewart?"

"Yes, you could call it that," Miley said as she walked back into the closet. "Here's your underwear for today, my dear." She handed Lilly a lacy pale green set of bra and panties, whose matching pair she was already wearing.

"Thanks hon," Lilly said as she took the underwear and stepped into the panties.

"You're welcome," Miley added as she walked around Lilly and fastened Lilly's bra as she slipped it on. She grabbed Lilly's butt with her left hand as she walked back around her girlfriend and to the closet door.

"Felt that," Lilly said with a soft smile as Miley went by her.

"Good," Miley added as she walked back into the bedroom.

Lilly chose a bright red spaghetti strap shirt and a dark green button-up shirt to go over it, leaving the shirt completely unbuttoned. She walked out into the bedroom and saw that Miley already had her pants on and was putting on her shirt. Lilly took a moment to admire Miley's flat stomach, her navel as cute as she could ever remember it. "Hey Miles?" she asked.

"Yeah?" Miley said as the shirt fell over her head and onto her shoulder as she put her arms through the sleeves.

"Don't ever get one of those belly button rings, okay?"

Miley thought for a second, then she said, "Okay. Wasn't thinking about it."

"Good," Lilly said with a smile. "Your belly button is just so cute the way it is. I want it to stay that way."

Miley walked over as Lilly sat down on the bed and pulled her pants up. Lilly then stood and buttoned them. "Wow, those still fit you perfectly," Miley said.

Lilly checked herself out in the mirror. "Yeah, the soccer really did wonders for my legs, but it sure made fitting into some of my old jeans harder."

"That's because you still had your jeans from when you were thirteen!" Miley said in disbelief. "You were a _girl_ then, Lilly."

"And what am I now?" Lilly said, a smile on her face as she turned to look at Miley.

Miley walked to her and wrapped her arms around her partner as she gave her a deep, warm kiss. After nearly a minute of the sensual kiss, Miley pulled back and said with a voice heavy with desire, "You're a woman now. _My_ woman."

"Right on both counts," Lilly said, her eyes still closed from the kiss but smiling. She opened her eyes and said, "Your raspberry lip gloss would go perfectly with both our outfits."

Miley reached behind Lilly and opened a drawer. She had to push Lilly slightly to reach inside the drawer, but she didn't want to let Lilly go just yet. She pulled out a handful of tubes, holding them in front of Lilly. Lilly happily snatched the correct tube out of Miley's open hand, opening it as Miley put the others back in the drawer. Lilly deftly covered Miley's lips with the lip gloss, then she covered her own. "Mmm, now for the best part," she said.

Miley grinned as she said, "Evening it out?"

"Mm hmm." Lilly tilted her head back slightly and kissed Miley, gently working their lips together. As they pulled apart, she flicked her tongue across Miley's lips. "Wow, I love that part," she said breathlessly.

Miley held Lilly for a bit longer. "Lilly, I'm going to ask you to let me do something, and I want you to really think about it before you try to argue with me, okay?"

Lilly looked into Miley's cobalt blue eyes and said, "Sure, Miles, what is it?"

Miley swallowed as she likewise looked into Lilly's bright blue eyes, the match to her own. "When we get married, I want to change my last name to Truscott. I mean, Lola is already going to change her last name to Montana. I want to do this for you and your family."

Lilly was struck silent for a few moments, then she said, "Are you sure?"

Miley nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm sure. We share everything, remember? Hannah proposed to Lola, and Lola is taking her last name. You proposed to me, so it fits that I take your last name. Plus, I think it'd be nice to make sure your family's name continues. I mean, Jackson and Kaela look pretty serious, but your brother, bless his heart...well, let's just say it ain't lookin' too good for his chances to continue your family line."

Lilly laughed. Her brother truly _was_ hopeless when it came to girls, and everyone knew it. She looked at Miley once again, searching her partner's eyes for any sign of doubt, but there was absolutely none there. "Okay," Lilly said. "And thank you."

"My pleasure," Miley said, hugging Lilly tightly. "Now let's get over to your parents' house. I bet they're already openin' gifts and eatin' breakfast, knowing them!"

Lilly laughed as they walked out of the room and down the stairs. "What time are they delivering our present to Mom and Dad?"

Miley kept walking as she said, "I asked them to deliver it right at ten this morning."

"I think it was worth the extra money to have them deliver it and set it up today," Lilly said as they walked across the living room, Miley going to the closet and Lilly to the door leading to the carport. When Lilly reached the door, she opened it and waved to their car. "Hi Stella!" she said cheerfully. "Your mommies missed you!" She closed the door, leaving a slightly surprised Robbie Ray out there doing something.

"You are too much, Ms. Truscott," Miley said as she gave Lilly another look. "Here," she said, "come get one of these bags, sweetheart."

"'Kay," Lilly said happily as she skipped across the living room to the closet and took one of the bags of presents. "I hope I remembered everybody."

"Well, I hope you did too," added Miley. "Wouldn't be much fun to get over there and turn up a present short."

Lilly gave her a dismissive wave. "Got it covered, girlfriend," she said cheerfully. "I have couple of extra gift cards, just in case we left someone out."

"Nice thinking," Miley said. "That's my woman!" she added, causing Lilly to positively beam. _Oh Lilly, you are so amazingly beautiful when you smile like that. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you._

"Ready?" Lilly asked.

"Ready," Miley replied. "Let's go see your family."

The walk to the Truscott house went quickly, even with each of the girls carrying a bag of presents. As they stepped up onto the porch, Miley began to feel nervous. "Lilly, how many people are going to be here again?" she asked.

Lilly turned to look at Miley and saw how nervous her fiancée was. "Oh, Miles, it's okay. I promise." She set her bag down and hugged Miley, which usually did wonders to relax her. This time it seemed to work only slightly, so Lilly decided stronger medicine was required. She leaned forward and kissed Miley hotly, causing Miley to nearly gasp at the passion of their contact. As Lilly ran her hands over Miley's back, she heard a thump indicating Miley had dropped her bag, then she felt Miley's hands roaming across her back as well. As both sets of hands settled, Lilly's were joined at the back of Miley's neck, while Miley's were clasped in the small of Lilly's back. Throughout the kiss, Lilly felt the tension drain out of Miley. Once she felt her lover was sufficiently relaxed, Lilly pulled away, leaving Miley's lips twitching for more. "Feel more relaxed now?" Lilly said with a smirk.

"Oh. Yeah." It took Miley a few seconds to open her eyes, and when she did the color of her irises was nearly glowing an intense blue. "Wow."

"Yeah, it was pretty good for me too," Lilly added, still smiling. "Now, we're going to go inside. There aren't going to be that many people—I hope—and even if there are, we're going to be fine. If things get overwhelming, we'll just go up to our room and chill out, okay?"

Miley smiled at Lilly. "As long as you're with me, I'll be fine."

"Then everything's going to be just smooth as silk, because I'm not going anywhere." She picked up the bags of presents and handed Miley hers, which hadn't tipped over. "Let's go, hon," Lilly said, opening the door for Miley to step inside.

As they went in, Lilly quickly steered Miley to the kitchen, where she expected her mother would be. Sure enough, her mother and her aunt Dana were fixing Christmas brunch. "Hi Mom!" Lilly said happily as she and Miley stepped over and gave Mrs. Truscott a group hug.

"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Truscott!" Miley said cheerily. "We brought presents!"

"Oh, Miley, Lilly, just having you two back safely is enough for me," Lilly's mother said. "Did you enjoy Tennessee?"

"Oh Mom, it was so cool! It snowed, and we got to go sledding and have a snowball fight! And Miley took me on a horseback ride up into the mountains, and I got to meet her family and--" Lilly rush of words was stemmed by Miley clamping her hand over Lilly's mouth from behind.

"Later, Lil," Miley said sweetly. "We've got plenty of time, hon." She took her hand off Lilly's mouth, but Lilly captured Miley's hand before it was completely gone, kissing the palm before releasing it.

Lilly spied her aunt giving her and Miley a very confused look. "Aunt Dana, this my fiancée, Miley Stewart. Miley, this is my aunt Dana from Miami."

Miley extended her hand and shook Dana's hand politely. "Nice to meet you," Miley said. "I've heard Lilly talk about you some, but I haven't met much of her family at all besides her parents and brother."

Dana seemed to have recovered her wits by then, as she said, "Well, Miley, there aren't that many of us left. Meredith and I are the only old ones left from our family. My sons Adam and Patrick came with me this year, finally. We'd been meaning to come up here for some time, but things have just been so busy back home for a long time."

Lilly's mother smiled as she said, "Dana works for the Coast Guard. She's one of the civilian analysts on Cuba."

"That's neat," Miley said sincerely. "So you speak Spanish?"

Dana smiled. "Do you even have to ask? I _do_ live in Miami."

"Point taken," Miley said. "Mind if I go set these presents under the tree?" she asked Lilly.

"That's fine, hon, and thanks," Lilly said as she handed Miley her bag and moved to help her mother and aunt fix brunch. Lilly started slicing cheeses and arranging pepperoni on a snack tray for the table as she said, "I really had a great time, Mom. And Miley got to relax, finally."

Meredith gave her daughter a hug. "Good. You girls deserved some special time together. So you got to play in the snow?"

Lilly nodded. "It was really neat! Miley said this snow was a bit fluffy, but it didn't feel as wet as I'd expected. But oh my gosh, was it cold while we were there!" Suddenly Lilly remembered something she had to tell her mother. "Mom, I need to tell you something."

Meredith stopped cutting vegetables as she looked at Lilly. "Good or bad?" she asked.

"Good, of course!" Lilly said, laughing. "We set a date!"

Lilly's mother set the knife down quickly and turned to look at Lilly, her face elated. "You did?" she asked.

Lilly nodded vigorously. "November 29th, 2008! It's the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so it's a long weekend, and it's after our seventeenth birthdays!"

Meredith stepped over and hugged Lilly, tears in her eyes. "My little girl's all grown up, almost," she said, her tone bittersweet. "Where is it going to be, Lilly?"

Dana interrupted, asking, "I'm sorry, but what on earth are you two talking about?"

Meredith looked at her older sister and said, "Lilly and Miley have picked the date for their wedding!" She turned back to Lilly and said, "Don't you think you should ask your father and me first if we'll sign for you to get married?"

Lilly smiled as she held her mother. "Already talked to Dad about it two weeks ago. I asked him to keep it a secret so you'd be surprised." Lilly smirked at her mother, but in a nice way. "He told me you'd already convinced him to let us get married whenever we got around to asking."

"Hmph," Meredith said. "He ratted on me, I see."

"Yup." Lilly saw that her aunt had a rather odd look on her face. "You okay, Dana?"

Dana stammered for just a minute before she could form coherent words. "Yeah, I guess so. Wow! Lilly, you and this Miley girl are really serious, aren't you?"

Lilly's smile paled just slightly but it was only noticeable to someone who knew her very well. "Yes, we certainly are. We've been best friends for almost four years, and we've been engaged for almost six months. We're very serious about each other."

Meredith interjected, "Miley and Lilly have been very, very good for each other, Dana. Since they started dating, their grades have shot up. Did you know that both of them were on the 'A' Honor Roll this semester?"

"Really?" Dana's surprise registered on her face. "_Since_ they started dating? Isn't that the opposite of how romance typically affects teenagers? I mean, Lord only knows that's how it was with my two..."

"We help each other out, and keeping our grades up is one way we can demonstrate that we're mature enough to get married before we're eighteen."

"And the girls are a tremendous help with housework both here and at Miley's house," Meredith said.

"Mom..." Lilly moaned at she cut a look at her mother.

"Oh, sorry, dear," her mother said. "I meant, at Miley's father's house. I know you two think of both houses as belonging to both of you."

"Thank you," Lilly said sweetly.

Dana didn't get the distinction. "Doesn't Miley live with her family?"

"During the week, yes. On weekends, we stay together," Lilly clarified. "One weekend here, the next weekend at her dad's."

Dana looked at her younger sister with a look of concern. "Oh no, don't even think about saying anything, Dana!" Meredith said. "Phil and I have already been though all the doubts and worries. Lilly and Miley have already come out here and at school, and they've both been superb at handling anything that came up regarding that." Meredith sighed as she looked at her daughter, no longer a child in any way. "The truth is that they really are meant to be together," she said, meaning every word of that statement. "And they're proving that they're almost mature enough to deal with marriage."

Lilly gave her mother a firm hug. "You really _do_ understand," she said, her voice heavy with emotion.

"Yes, Lilly," Meredith said, enjoying the hug of her youngest child, now nearly as tall as she was. "You and Miley made me understand."

Miley bursting into the kitchen interrupted the tender moment. "Okay Lilly, we have a problem!" she said hurriedly. Before she could elaborate, a blonde teenager roughly the girls' age followed her into the kitchen.

"Come on, at least give me your phone number!" he said. "I'm here for a few days, maybe we can go to a movie or something!"

Miley looked at Lilly at she interposed the island between herself and the young man. "He won't believe that we're engaged," she said. "And he's really getting on my nerves with these come-ons!"

Lilly raced around the island and slowly but firmly pushed her cousin Adam back towards the living room. "No way, Adam!" she said loudly. "Miley is mine, and you better stop right now before I throw you out of this house!"

The look of amusement on Adam's face only pushed Lilly's buttons even more effectively. "You?" he said. "Flower Girl, I'm at least five inches taller than you and I outweigh you by about sixty, seventy pounds. Do you really think you can push me around?"

Lilly stood her ground as Adam set his feet and resisted her attempt to push him further away. "Miley's dad once said, 'It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog'," she said with a low voice. "Now, Miley is my girlfriend and my fiancée. She is off-limits to you or anyone else, you got me?" Not giving him a chance to answer, she continued, "I love her with all my heart, and she is not going to be made uncomfortable here in our house by you or by anyone else. So _BACK OFF_!"

Miley was struck by how surreal the scene was. Lilly had warned her that her family tended to be a bit "fiery," as she had put it last month, but Miley hadn't been expecting this. Watching her girlfriend stand up to her much larger cousin made Miley feel... Well, it made her feel protected and cherished, even more so than usual. _Lilly, you are getting a real treat tonight_.

For long seconds Lilly and Adam glared at each other. Then as suddenly as the conflict had escalated, Adam relented and said, "Damn, if you really love her that much, I'll leave her alone."

"Adam!" Dana said. "Watch your language! It's Christmas!"

Adam smiled down at Lilly and said, "So you're getting married?"

Lilly nodded her head. "Yeah, next November. And I won't be sending you an invitation, you big doofus."

"Well, that saves me the trouble of turning you down."

"Doubt you could find your way there anyway." As Lilly finished speaking, she held her position until Adam held out his hands and gave her a quick hug.

"Congrats, Flower Girl," he said.

"Shut up," Lilly said playfully. "And don't call me that. You know I hate it." As she turned around and walked back to Miley, she put her arms around Miley, then she turned her head to look at her cousin. "I mean it, Adam! Miles is off limits! No teasing, no flirting, no sneaking peeks at her butt, nothing! You got me?"

"Yeah, I got you, Lil." He started back into the living room, then he turned around. "Can I at least tell Patrick that I got her phone number?" As both girls gave him withering Looks, he said, "Okay, okay! I get the point. I'll make sure Loverboy leaves your woman alone too."

"Thank you," Lilly said.

As Adam left the room, everyone held their composure for a few seconds, then Dana and Meredith both sputtered as they began laughing. "Oh, Merry, that was just too funny!" Dana said, laughing vigorously.

Lilly's mother was likewise laughing loudly. "Oh Lilly, I feel so bad for the poor college boys when you and Miley go off to school!"

Without the slightest inflection of humor in her voice, Lilly replied, "Well, I don't. If they hit on my girlfriend, they need to be straightened out."

Miley walked over to Lilly and hugged her from behind, resting her chin on Lilly's left shoulder. "I for one enjoy being defended by my own personal knight." She placed a light kiss on Lilly's ear. "Thank you, sweetheart."

"You're welcome, Miles." Lilly turned her head and kissed Miley on the lips, then she looked at her aunt. "I see Adam's still the charmer."

Dana tried hard to stifle any further laughter as she said, "He thinks himself quite the ladies' man, especially since he turned sixteen. But it appears he knows that your girlfriend is off limits now."

"Good thing for him," Lilly muttered.

"Lilly, you need to tell your dad Merry Christmas," Miley said softly, still holding Lilly securely.

"Okay," Lilly said cheerfully. Miley obligingly shifted her hold on Lilly from an embrace to holding Lilly's left hand as they walked into the living room. Inside were Lilly's father, her cousins Adam and Patrick, Lilly's paternal uncles Greg and Harrison, their wives Joanne and Kendra, and several assorted children of various ages, all younger than Lilly and Miley. In contrast to Lilly's mother, who was the younger of sisters, Lilly's father was the oldest of three brothers and one sister. Not seeing her aunt Shirley, Lilly said, "Is Shirley not here?"

Her father looked at the girls and said, "No, Shirley had to work today. Hospitals don't take Christmas off, and it was her year to work."

"Yuck for her," said Lilly. "She coming by later today when she gets off?"

"Probably so," her father replied. He turned to look at the children, all busy playing with a legion of toys. "Boys and girls, here's your cousin Lilly and her girlfriend Miley. Tell them Merry Christmas, please."

Dutifully, the children paused long enough to say, "Merry Christmas!" more or less in unison. Then the girls were forgotten as the kids resumed their play.

Lilly glanced at the clock on the wall, which was squarely at ten o'clock.. She was about to say something to Miley when the door bell rang.

"Who on earth could that be?" Lilly's father said as he stood and walked to the door.

Lilly looked at Miley and grinned, then they hurried to the kitchen. "Mom, someone's at the door," Lilly said. "You better go see who it is." Her mother wiped her hands and then went into the living room.

In moments, a loud whoop was heard from the living room, followed by cheers from the kids. Meredith came bustling into the kitchen, rushing over to Miley and Lilly. "Oh girls, that is way too big a Christmas gift!" she said excitedly.

Lilly said, "No, it's not! Miley and I talked about this, and her dad said it was okay for us to splurge this time, with it being our first Christmas together and all. So we kinda pooled our money and got this for you and Dad."

Miley added, "It's one of the best plasma TVs they make right now, and we paid a little extra for them to deliver and install it for you today. Merry Christmas, Mrs. Truscott!" She and Lilly hugged Meredith tightly, then Miley said softly, "Thank you for being so understanding and supportive of us." She and Lilly pulled their heads back slightly. "Lots of parents would have been angry or upset or frightened, but you and Mr. Truscott were good to us from the very start. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

Lilly helpfully added, "Miley said it perfectly. Thanks Mom, for being there for us. Merry Christmas."

Meredith had tears in her eyes as she said, "Well, you two need to open your presents too, I think!"

Lilly looked a bit hesitant as she said, "Uh, Mom?" She glanced back at Miley, then continued. "We're both really tired and pretty jet lagged, so do you mind if we wait to open our presents until later today? We could both stand a nap, I think." Miley nodded her assent.

Meredith's eyes were glistening as she looked at her daughter and future daughter-in-law. _Oh, forget that future nonsense, Miley already is my daughter-in-law, we're just waiting on the ceremony to make it official._ "Of course, girls. Go get some rest while I try to help them find a good place for the television."

"Thanks Mom," Lilly said with a smile. She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. "Love you."

Miley likewise kissed Meredith on the same cheek. "Yeah, love you Mom!" she said happily. Together she and Lilly ran up the stairs.

As they reached Lilly's room, they opened the door and went inside. Nothing appeared to be touched, which meant Meredith had done a good job of policing the younger children while they were there. Lilly closed the door as Miley shucked her shirt over her head and took off her shoes and socks. Lilly locked the door as she likewise undressed and climbed into the bed with Miley. As they snuggled together, reveling in each other's warmth, they kissed tenderly as they settled their arms around each other.

"Thank you for my amazing gifts, Miley," Lilly said as they finished their kiss.

"And thank you for mine, Lil," Miley said in return. "But really..." She paused, not wanting to say anything that might be misconstrued.

Lilly looked at her, understanding in her eyes. "I think I know what you're going to say," she said with a devilish grin on her face. "As great as our gifts are, they're nothing compared to having each other."

Miley smiled. "That's _exactly_ what I was going to say. I like this thinking alike stuff."

"Yeah, it has its moments." Lilly looked into Miley's eyes, a deep shade of blue in the current lighting. "When I woke up this morning, I had all the Christmas presents I could ever want, already in my arms."

Miley looked back into Lilly's own tender blue eyes. She sang softly, "You say...you want... Diamonds and a ring of gold..." Her voice was cut off by Lilly pulling her head in and kissing her deeply. After several minutes, they parted, and both girls softly sang, "But all I want...is you," as they closed their eyes and fell asleep, nestled in each other's arms.

_You say you want_

_Diamonds and a ring of gold_

_You say you want_

_Your story to remain untold_

_But all the promises we make_

_From the cradle to the grave_

_When all I want_

_Is you_

_You say you'll give me _

_A highway with no one on it_

_A treasure just to look upon it_

_All the riches in the night_

_You say you'll give me_

_Eyes with no more blindness_

_A river in a time of dryness_

_A harbor in the tempest_

_But all the promises we make_

_From the cradle to the grave_

_When all I want_

_Is you_

(U2; "All I Want Is You")

**Author's Afterword:** Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and best wishes for whichever holiday you recognize! I hope you've enjoyed this story, because I know I've loved writing it! And as I promised, I will start writing the next story of Miley and Lilly very soon. After looking at everyone's votes, we had a clear winner for the timeframe for our next story. Pick out your dress clothes, because we're going to a wedding next time! Actually, make that two weddings. After all, you didn't think the record company was going to let our girls slide by without a public ceremony for Hannah and Lola as well, did you? See you soon!

-- Jo --


End file.
